BSNL likely to launch 4G and VoLTE services in 2018

With the debut of Reliance Jio 4G VoLTE service in the last year, the other dominant service providers started facing the competition. The state-run operator BSNL that doesn't offer 4G services in the country seems to be all set to debut the same to beat the competition that is imposed by Jio.

Though the claims that BSNL will start rolling out 4G services has been making the rounds in the industry for quite some time, it didn't happen so long. Now, it is tipped that BSNL is all set to introduce 4G services in India by the end of this year. According to a new report by ultranews (via: TelecomTalk), BSNL is pretty close to launch the 4G services. The report claims that the information was revealed by the chairman and managing director of BSNL, Anupam Shrivastava.

Going by the report, BSNL will be launching the 4G mobile services shortly and will introduce the VoLTE service in the fiscal year 2017-18. Eventually, it is confirmed that BSNL is all set to roll out the VoLTE service in India in the coming months.

Having said that, BSNL has been talked about a lot when it comes to the launch of their 4G services in India. While this did not happen, the commercial launch of the 5G service is all set to happen by the end of 2019, which adds more pressure on BSNL. Notably, BSNL has been allotted the 4G spectrum seven years back.

The report further points out that BSNL will launch the 4G services on the 20MHz spectrum that uses the Band 41 of LTE. This will not be well received by the users as most smartphones do not support the Band 41. Moreover, it has been claimed that the 4G service will not be introduced across the country simultaneously as there will be a shortage of spectrum.