Government-owned telecom firm BSNL is likely to launch State-wide 4G network services in Tamil Nadu from April.
Nearly 80% of the 4G roll-out activities, including setting up of the core switch of the network at Tiruchi and physical installations have been completed as of January 12, 2024, and all of the work is expected to be finished by the end of March, said D. Thamizhmani, Chief General Manager of BSNL Tamil Nadu Circle, at a press meet held in Chennai on Friday.
In Tamil Nadu, BSNL 4G services are currently available in Tiruchi, Madurai, Salem, Coimbatore, and Nagercoil. Officials said all the 4G nodes have been designed for future upgrades to 5G, and the transition will be easier and quicker than the 3G to 4G update.
When asked why there has been a huge delay in bringing 4G services as private operators have already moved ahead to 5G, Mr. Thamizhmani said: “We are entirely ‘Make in India’. All the products and equipment are planned, manufactured and designed in the country. The advantage of this is security consideration. Nowadays, cybersecurity is a huge issue.”
Officials said that existing 2G and 3G customers must upgrade to 4G SIM cards by April, for improved services.
4G in remote TN villages
As part of its nationwide 4G saturation project, BSNL has identified 218 villages across 24 districts in Tamil Nadu that do not have any network coverage and has started work to set up towers.
Land parcels have been identified in 185 revenue villages and eight forest villages in remote areas such as Sathyamangalam forest, Kolli Hills and Yercaud among others, and work for network connectivity is expected to be completed by March-end, said senior officials. The telecom firm is awaiting approval from the Forest Department for 12 locations in Kanniyakumari, one in Erode, and two in Udumalpet.
Optic fiber internet penetration
Bharat Fiber (FTTH), the optic fiber connections for internet, has so far reached 4.6 lakh users of the total 1.4 crore households in Tamil Nadu, said Mr. Thamizhmani. This amounts to penetration of a mere 3.1% of households. “We are aggressively working to convert connections to fiber optic. In the last two to three months, we are adding almost 25,000 connections per month,” he said.
