4G Towers in MP: PM to Commission 97,500+ on Sep 27

Bhopal, Sep 26 (PTI) Out of the more than 97,500 mobile 4G towers to be commissioned by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the country on Saturday, as many as 4,679 are located in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Friday.

The PM will unveil state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL)'s 'Swadeshi' 4G stack and commission over 97,500 mobile 4G towers spread across the country, built at a cost of Rs 37,000 crore, during his visit to Jharsuguda in Odisha on September 27 (Saturday), he said.

The 4,679 towers in Madhya Pradesh cover both urban and rural areas.

Under the Digital Bharat Nidhi Scheme 1,223 sites have already been deployed, connecting 1,656 villages that previously had no operator coverage. Additionally, the installation of 247 towers is underway and expected to be completed by March 2026, BSNL MP circle chief general manager Mithilesh Kumar told reporters in Bhopal.

Under the Government of India's expanded BharatNet Project, BSNL is laying 65,509 km of optical fiber cable across Madhya Pradesh, enabling high-speed internet access in 22,858 gram panchayats, including remote villages, he added.

Currently, the state-owned telecom services provider serves nearly 29.3 lakhs mobile subscribers, 1.26 lakh Fibre to the Home (FTTH) customers, and operates 13,571 leased lines across institutions and offices in Madhya Pradesh.

BSNL customers who have not yet upgraded their 2G/3G SIMs can obtain a free 4G SIM card from any customer service centre of the company or authorized franchisees and retailers, Kumar added.

In its silver jubilee year, BSNL, in collaboration with TCS/Tejas Networks, is rolling out 4G services across India on the indigenous C-DOT core platform -- a significant milestone towards the government vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat

Out of the more than 97,500 4G towers, 18,900 had been installed under the Digital Bharat Nidhi, which included 14,180 towers installed by BSNL, bringing mobile coverage to 26,700 uncovered villages and benefiting over 20 lakh citizens in remote, border, and Left-wing extremism-affected regions, a release of BSNL (Bhopal circle) said.

These towers, powered by solar energy, mark a historic step towards green telecom infrastructure, said the release.

Aligned with the PM's vision of self-reliance, BSNL's indigenous 4G technology has been fully developed in India by C-DOT (core), Tejas Networks (radio access), and TCS (system integration). The network is software-upgradable to 5G, ensuring future readiness, it added.

The inauguration of BSNL's indigenous 4G network stack will mark India's entry into a coveted league of nations such as Denmark, Sweden, South Korea, and China that produce and manufacture homegrown telecom equipment.