Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited or BSNL, which, for those unaware is a State-run telecom company has been hit by another issue in relation to its 4G trial, with a TCS or Tata Consultancy Services led consortium having proposed around 128 deviations in the 4G equipment specifications, with the highest number of deviations proposed in the radio network, at a whopping 71, as per the Financial Express. Other similar specifications wherein the TCS led consortium proposed deviations to consist of the deferred core at 13, deferred radio at 20, networking at 6 and core at 18. BSNL in response has stated that if it were to accept these deviations, it would be jeopardizing its business prospects and hamper the customer experience, with the company also adding that it has written to the DoT or Department of Telecommunications enquiring as to whether or not it should accept these proposed deviations.
Why Is BSNL Under Fire In Relation to its 4G Rollout?
The telco further said the deviations included a couple of issues that were critical in nature and cannot be compromised for testing of the equipment under PoC or Proof of Concept or trials considering the same would be commercially deployed for rolling out the services post the trial. BSNL’s CMD PK Purwar said to the Financial Express that as per the office, acceptance of such deviations would cost BSNL in the future, once the rollout happens and it will not only jeopardise the interests of BSNL’s business prospects but it would also impact the customer experience and BSNL’s competitive strength. Do note that ITI and TCS have also submitted their bid with C-Dot, which is a state-run corporation for core technology and Tejas Networks for the radio, with the companies intending to conduct trials at Chandigarh. The bid has been submitted separately by the two companies. To add to this, HFCL as well as L&T have submitted their bid with the Mumbai-run PertSol for core technology and US-based Mavenir for radio. Tech Mahindra has also submitted its bid with Sterlite for radio and Pertsol for the core technology. BSNL has been quick to highlight however that other bidders have not yet submitted the deviated document, implying subtly that their product did comply with the specifications and, as a result, was ready for proper deployment.
