Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) officials said on Monday (November 10, 2025) that TCS has completed the rollout of 100,000 4G sites for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). BSNL now has to decide on the next phase of expansion and the funding required for the 4G network. Saurabh Mittal, Chief Product Officer (Core Technologies), TCS, said, “TCS has set up 100,000 4G sites, with a primary focus on areas where the network had not yet reached. Indigenous technology has been used to connect remote, backward, and unconnected areas.”
Radhakanta Das, Chief Technology Officer (Network Solutions and Services) at TCS, said the project is now in the “operation transition” phase. He added that the first order has been delivered on time, and the process of operational stabilization is currently underway.
These officials said on the occasion of IEEE Future Networks World Forum-2025 held here that the work of the first phase has been completed to a large extent, but its expansion in the future will depend on the decisions of BSNL.
Das said that “we will wait for Carer to come back” regarding the next order and budget distribution, indicating that the next phase of work would be part of a separate agreement and the budget would also be separate.
The installation and commissioning deadline for the initial BSNL project worth over Rs 20,000 crore that TCS had bagged was June 2025.
Under this project, BSNL’s 4G rollout was planned to focus on saturation sites in remote and hard-to-reach areas. These included areas in Chhattisgarh, the Northeast, Ladakh, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which previously had only 2G connectivity or no mobile towers, Das said in response to a question.
On the implementation of 4G, TCS officials said that 5G devices were expensive and still only 20-25% penetration in India, while 4G provides instant and essential connectivity to the masses.
According to Mittal, BSNL’s 4G sites can be upgraded to 5G if the telecom company wishes. 6G standards will be unveiled by 2029, and commercial 6G rollout will occur only in 2030. Citing Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, he said, “India is today leading global discussions on 6G standardization, a step towards moving from a 4G follower to a 5G leader and a 6G leader.”
