With 4G services in the country gaining momentum and the market is going to take a more competitive turn with the launch of Reliance Jio but here is a surprise, BSNL has started their 4G services today in Chandigarh. This service is started on a non-commercial basis to a select number of BSNL employees. What is more surprising is the promise of up to 100mbps broadband speed by BSNL in the company’s ads.
The company has also mentioned, for customers wish to experience the 4G service can visit BSNL 4G centers in Chandigarh. BSNL is the first company to start 4G services in 2500Mhz band and has 4G spectrum across India. The company is also planning to provide 4G services to users via Wi-Fi hotspots and have established 620 Wi-Fi hotspots which will be further expanded to 2500 hotspots by the end of this financial year.
The Wi-Fi hotspots will be expanding to 40,000 by next fiscal which will be launched based on revenue share and capital expenditure model. BSNL is in discussions with Reliance Jio for sharing each others networks, BSNL will be providing 2G and 3G networks to Reliance Jio and will be using Reliance Jio’s 4G services in turn. The agreement is still pending and will be finalized after approval from the telecom industry. BSNL after 4 years of losses has reported a profit of Rs. 672 crore for the financial year 2014-15.
