BSNL to start 4G services from March in Assam

February 15: Sandeep Govil, Chief General Manager (CGM) of BSNL (Assam Circle) declared that BSNL is going to roll out 4G services in Assam by March this year. He further said that the public sector undertaking is investing about Rs. 200 crore for rolling out the 4G services in Assam. This amount will be spent towards cost for infrastructure upgradation including the laying of optical fibre.

Sandeep Govil while addressing a press conference at Guwahati on Friday said, “We are launching the 4G services in Assam by March this year. All the equipment have already arrived at the Kolkata port and likely to reach here by the end of this month. A total of 3500 BTS will be added as part of the 4G expansion and after launch of the 4G services, use of data will be 23 TB per day.”

The CGM said that the department of telecommunications (DoT) recognises and values the inherent strength of BSNL as a telecom service provider with huge infrastructure and reach, especially in rural areas. Further, DoT is in the process of finalising a proposal for revival of BSNL to be considered by the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) very soon.

Technocrats have expressed the view that with BSNL launching 4G services in Assam, the private players like Vodafone, Airtel and Idea will have to face a tough competition. There is also a probability that BSNL will be able to offer 4G services at a much cheaper rate than the private players, which would be beneficial for the consumers in the long run.