New Delhi: Two of India’s biggest private telecom operators, Reliance Jio and Airtel, have started rolling out 5G services in India and are expected to spread the service across India by 2024. BSNL is now thinking of launching 4G in the country. Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnav recently revealed that state-run telecom network BSNL is preparing to launch 4G services in the country by January 2023.

Vaishnav announced BSNL’s 5G launch plan and said that by August next year, BSNL will launch 5G. Earlier, reports said that BSNL is working to bring 4G and 5G with the help of in-house technology. For this, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the government’s Center for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) are working together to bring indigenous 4G core technology to BSNL. BSNL aims to launch 5G network from August 15, 2023, after successful completion of beta testing.

Recently at the India Mobile Congress, the government said that the government telecom company will bring 5G plans in India at a cheaper rate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also indicated the price of the 5G plan, saying that earlier the cost of 1GB data was around Rs 300, now it has become around Rs 10 per GB.

WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram will have to take license

In addition to rollout 5G services, the ministry is also working on the draft Indian Telecom Bill 2022 to strengthen regulatory and legal aspects to the sector. The Department of Telecommunications has made licensing from the government mandatory for communication services including voice, video and data.