New Delhi: Customers of state-owned telecom company BSNL will also be able to take advantage of the 4G connection soon. The company has given a contract worth thousands of crores to a Tata Group company to expand its 4G network. BSNL intends to spread its 4G network across the country and the company will soon start working on it.
The Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-led consortium announced on May 22 that it has received an Advance Purchase Order (APO) worth Rs 15,000 crore from BSNL. Telecom gear maker Tez Network is also included in this consortium. Soon the process of setting up a 4G network across the country will start. Tejas Network will provide the service of Radio Access Network (RAN) to BSNL. Through this deal, 1 lakh towers will be installed across the country.
BSNL has also made government company ITI Ltd (ITI Ltd) a part of APO along with TCS. Market analysts believe that ITI Ltd will get 20 percent of this deal i.e. about Rs 3,000 crore. While this deal will prove to be a big money maker for TCS, it will prove to be a profitable deal for other partners as well. Parikh Jain, CEO and Founder of EIIRTrend said that Tejas Networks will be manufacturing the equipment and hardware for this entire development. In this context, other players do not see much profit. This is because no work will be given to anyone outside the consortium in this deal.
Not seeing much profit
Tez Network and C-DOT, which are part of the TCS-led consortium, will get a chance to complete their deal soon. In such a situation, this deal does not seem to get much benefit for TCS. If this deal is completed, it will prove to be the third-biggest deal in the IT sector in the year 2023. Earlier, a deal worth $723 million was signed between UK-based company Phoenix Group and British retailer Mark & Spencer (M&S).
Rejuvenation of the company with 1.64 lakh crores
The revival plan given to the company shows the extent to which the government is working to bring BSNL back on track and make it a big company in the telecom sector. In July 2022, the Union Cabinet announced Rs 1.64 lakh crore as a revival package for BSNL. In this, there was direct cash support of Rs 43,964 crore, while technical and other support of Rs 1.20 lakh crore was included. This package covers three major areas. Firstly, to improve the quality of service of BSNL, secondly to maintain the balance sheet, and thirdly, to strengthen broadband through fiber network.
