Parliament Question: BSNL's 4G and 5G services

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 73 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05TH FEBRUARY, 2026 BSNL'S 4G AND 5G SERVICES 73 SHRI GOLLA BABURAO: Will the Minister of Communications be pleased to state: (a) the status of BSNL’s expansion of 4G and 5G services, with a particular reference to Andhra Pradesh; (b) whether BSNL has decided to shut-down its 3G mobile services throughout the country; (c) if so, the details thereof and whether BSNL has terminated the Annual Maintenance Contracts with Nokia and ZTE for 3G services; (d) the number of 4G towers required for BSNL for 4G services and the number of towers currently installed; (e) whether the shift to 4G services would not impact BSNL users who currently have 3G SIM Cards and rely on older handsets; and (f) if so, the plans to address this and avoid losing customers? ANSWER MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION (SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA) (a) to (f) A statement is laid on the Table of the House. 1STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF RAJYA SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (f) OF THE RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 73 FOR 05TH FEBRUARY, 2026 REGARDING “BSNL'S 4G AND 5G SERVICES.” (a) In line with Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, BSNL has placed purchase order for indigenously developed one lakh 4G sites for pan India deployment . Supply of 4G equipment has started from September 2023 and as on 15.01.2026, total 97,672 4G sites have been installed and 95,511 sites are ON-Air .In Andhra Pradesh, BSNL has installed 6,108 4G sites out of which 6,045 sites are ON-Air as on 15.01.2026. The equipment is 5G upgradable from technology perspective . (b) & (e) As technology evolves, consumers migrate to latest technology, where such technology is deployed. As per that evolution, all 3G subscribers are being given 4G services as part of 4G rollout of BSNL. (c) BSNL is upgrading its existing sites by deploying indigenous 4G stacks. Where 4G services are being provided, there is no need for 3G services, therefore, there is no longer requirement of Annual Maintenance Contract for other manufacturers. (d) Currently, BSNL is installing 1 lakh 4G towers and on further expansion, BSNL will continue to increase its number of towers as per techno-commercial viability. (f) BSNL has increased its customer base from 8.86 crore to 9.28 crore from March, 2024 to December, 2025. ***** 2