In Times Of 5G, BSNL Makes Its First 4G Call In India

Good news for BSNL users across India, as Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India has officially confirmed that he made the first call over "Indian 4G Network BSNL."

His Tweet further confirms that the 4G technology that is used to make this call is completely designed and made in India. Though BSNL started a 4G rollout in select circles a few years back, the government-owned telco is yet to roll out the complete 4G services across the country.

A Big Achievement Indeed

Though recent 5G testing by companies like Airtel, Jio, and Vi might overshadow this announcement, it is definitely a great achievement from the govt institution, where it will be able to offer high-speed internet and high definition call quality at nuke and corners of the country, where BSNL is the lone network provider.

Though BSNL offered a 4G network in select markets, the network used to switch to 2G/3G while making a voice call. It now looks like BSNL has fully developed 4G LTE VoLTE (voice over LTE) technology, which should offer voice calls over a 4G network to improve the audio quality and it might even introduce native video calling support too.

Unlike Jio, BSNL will not be a 4G LTE-only network, hence users with entry-level mobile phones will still be able to access BSNL 2G network. However, just like what Airtel did, BSNL might stop 3G services and only focus on offering 2G and 4G services.

Made first call over Indian 4G network of BSNL (Designed and Made in India).
PM @narendramodi Ji’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat taking shape.

— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) October 10, 2021

Considering the recent developments, major telcos like Airtel and Jio might launch 5G network, at least in select circles by Q2 2022. By the same time, we might also see the deployment of 4G LTE VoLTE service by BSNL.

As a good number of 4G users are expected to make a shift to a 5G network, it should free up a lot of 4G bandwidth, resulting in an increased 4G connectivity and speeds. Despite the 5G launch around the corner, 4G will remain as a major wireless networking technology in India at least for the next four to five years.