Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is gearing up to launch 4G networks soon in India. The state-run telco has already placed an order of Rs 550 crores with TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) to procure 40W radios for 6000 sites. BSNL will also be looking to launch 5G NSA networks in due time. But until then, the state-run telco will earn from the 5G rollout of the private telcos.
BSNL to Lease Mobile Towers to Private Telcos for 5G Rollout
With 5G, the private telecom operators would want to add more tower sites and capacity. Building that outright can be an expensive and time-consuming process. Thus, to solve that pain for the telcos, BSNL is looking to lease out its mobile towers for the 5G rollout. According to a Financial Express report, the state-run telco is looking to lease out over 68,000 telecom towers. Out of this, 65% of towers are fiberised too. The publication’s report said that BSNL has already leased out 13,500 telecom towers which earn the company more than Rs 1,000 crore per annum. 5G deployment and network rollout would require a denser infrastructure in India and BSNL is in a strong position to leverage that need to make more money. The telco has fiberised sites that it can lease out to the private telcos. The data load on 5G networks would be far more than what telcos saw with the 3G and 4G networks. Thus fiber backhaul will be of essential need for the private telecom operators. BSNL might not launch 5G network soon, but the state-run telco can still leverage its fiberised mobile towers to earn money through the 5G rollout of the private telcos. The Indian telecom industry has been pushing for the need to fiberise more towers and make the state Right-of-Way (RoW) policies uniform with that of the Indian Telegraphy RoW Rules 2016.
