BSNL to Launch 5G Services in Delhi and Mumbai by December 2025
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is preparing to roll out 5G services in Delhi and Mumbai by December 2025, according to a senior official from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The official confirmed that all equipment for the indigenously developed network has performed well during testing and is ready for commercial deployment.
“All the equipment is working fine without any issues; therefore, we estimate the commercial launch of 5G services in both cities by December 2025,” the official said.
While private telecom operators like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea have already completed nationwide 5G rollouts, BSNL is still in the early stages of offering commercial 4G services in select cities. This delay has led to customer migration from BSNL to private operators. The government attributed the delay to its initiative to develop homegrown 4G technology.
To support this, the government signed a ₹25,000 crore deal with the TCS-Tejas-C-DoT consortium to deploy 100,000 4G sites, all upgradable to 5G. Supply of the 4G equipment began in September 2023, and the devices are 5G-convertible. So far, BSNL has rolled out 95,000 4G towers nationwide.
In August 2025, the DoT announced an additional ₹47,000 crore capital expenditure to further strengthen BSNL’s network. As of July 2025, BSNL and MTNL together held just 7.79% of India’s telecom market share, according to TRAI.
Earlier in August, BSNL announced a soft launch of its 4G network in Delhi. The company clarified that the 4G services are being delivered through a partner’s network access arrangement, allowing last-mile radio coverage for compatible devices using BSNL SIMs.
“The Delhi soft launch is delivered as a 4G-as-a-service through a partner’s network access arrangement. This complements BSNL’s nationwide 4G build under its indigenous rollout programme,” the company said.
With the upcoming 5G deployment in Delhi and Mumbai, BSNL aims to strengthen its presence in India’s competitive telecom sector and provide high-speed connectivity to urban users.
Source: 16 Sep 2025/newindianexpress/
