New Delhi: A consortium led by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Monday received a purchase order worth over Rs 15,000 crore from BSNL in order to install a 4G network throughout the nation, said the company in a regulatory filing. Tejas Network, a subdivision of Tata Group, also a consortium member, will be responsible for supplying and servicing the radio access network (RAN) equipment.

A radio access network (RAN) is an essential component of a wireless telecommunication system that acts as a connecting point between an individual device and other parts of the network through a radio link.

What TCS had to say?

“Tejas Networks is a part of the TCS-led consortium that successfully bid for the BSNL pan-India 4G project. BSNL has issued an advance purchase order (APO) to TCS and ITI for this project. As a part of the consortium, Tejas Networks will supply and service the radio access networks (RAN) equipment,” the company said in another regulatory filing.

TCS, on the other hand, has also joined hands with the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) for the deal. A 4G core will be used by BSNL, which is developed natively by the C-DOT for the first time.

What this core will be used for?

To set up reliable, secure connectivity of the network for the end users and give them access to its services, all these mentioned services will be made available by the core.

The core implements many essential functions in the mobile network such as connectivity and mobility management, authentication and authorisation, subscriber data and policy management.

In the previous week, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said that more than 24,600 villages still haven’t yet gotten the facility of 4G, especially the ones that are located in remote areas and far-flung areas, are most likely to get BSNL 4G services by the end of 2023.

Besides, the department also said that 2,343 mobile towers have already been installed in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh along with West Bengal under the Left Wing Extremism (LWE)- I scheme.