Six more months for the installation of BSNL 4G towers in Chennai etc!!
It is now said that it would take 6 more months for the installation of BSNL 4G towers in Chennai, Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur. The delay in the equipment procurement has been cited as the reason now. This was as per the chief GM of BSNL Mr. S. Parthiban.
Information gathered is that a total of 2114 towers have been planned in the above-mentioned districts in TN but just 1200 towers have been set up by BSNL till now. It is worthy to note that BSNL is also testing a 5G network.
Under the Universal Service Obligation Fund or USOF 4G Saturation DBN Scheme and Phase 9.2 project, across TN around 7345 4G sites have been commissioned. Point is that the TN government has given BSNL land free of cost to speed up installations and approvals.
There is a nationwide plan to provide 4G services to as many as 24680 villages and this was mentioned by Mr. Parthiban. Initially, in TN as many as 620 such villages have been identified by USOF. It was found out by a survey that as many as 289 villages did not have any mobile coverage. For this 257 locations have been chosen, 222 locations for new towers and 35 for upgrading existing 2G sites. As many as 254 towers have been commissioned and the rest would be operational by December 2025. With an outlay of Rs 245 crores, the project began in March 2023. For 209 sites, BSNL has obtained entry permission from the TN government.
As many as 19 villages in Chennai region have already been upgraded with 4G network and in Salem, Erode, Cuddalore, Vellore and Madurai large scale work is underway. It is worthy to note that customer service centres are being outsourced to cope up with staff shortages etc.
