“99% things are sorted, and BSNL is expected to formally enter into an agreement with TCS within the next 30 to 45 days to supply 4G equipment,” a senior telecom department (DoT) official told ETTelecom.
Currently, there is a price disparity of Rs 5,292-crore as the TCS-backed consortium quoted Rs 21, 428-crore as a capital expense (capex) including 5G core expansion, as against the BSNL’s estimation of Rs 16,136-crore.
Following the deadlock between the two companies over escalated pricing due to supply chain constraints, the department has sought tentative pricing from telecom carriers such as Bharti Airtel<\/a> and multinational gear vendors to arrive at a benchmark.
The official further said that the deployment of a homegrown next-generation technology-backed network at 100,000 sites would start by early next year.
Earlier this year, TCS approached BSNL and sought a revised price for network equipment deployment on the back of increased component cost due to supply chain constraints, escalated labour wages, and continued rupee volatility against the US dollar.
\"We are working with everyone to optimise the lead times and ensure that we can complete the rollout between 18-24 months,\" a top TCS executive earlier said.
The indigenous stack integrated with the BSNL network, according to the TCS, conforms to the approved global standards, robust and scalable to the next generation (5G) network.
The Mumbai-based company would upgrade BSNL’s 4G network to 5G NSA (non-standalone) core, designed and developed by state-owned C-DoT<\/a>, and unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a> on October 1.
Earlier, the Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the state-run telco would only deploy indigenous equipment.
However, despite disagreements, TCS continues to fine-tune the trial network, as a part of the proof-of-concept (PoC<\/a>), conducted in Ambala and Chandigarh for state-controlled telco.
In January last year, BSNL had released a detailed notice inviting e-tender, seeking Indian companies and consortiums to test their network quality by way of PoC in order to participate in the telco’s 4G gear tender.
On July 1, 2021, the public sector telecom company issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to five eligible bidders or consortiums.
Other bidders such as Tech Mahindra<\/a>, L&T and HFCL who were in fray, had to finally withdraw due to challenges from their partners supposed to supply locally designed and developed core equipment.
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