Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said that BSNL is on track to roll out 100,000 4G sites across India by June following which the process to convert them to 5G will begin.

The minister also said that several satellite internet service providers in addition to Elon Musk’s Starlink are also interested in expanding in India.

“BSNL is rolling out 100,000 towers of 4G with a completely indigenously developed 4G stack. I hope the process will be completed by June, and the minute we complete the process, we will start switching each one of those towers to 5G,” Scindia said at Times Now Summit 2025.

The telecom ministry had informed the Parliament on March 12 that supply of 4G equipment has started from September 2023, and as on March 5, 2025, a total of 83,629 BSNL 4G sites have been installed, and 74,123 sites are on-air.

The government in 2022 had announced a revival package for BSNL amounting to around ₹1.64 Lakh crore, focussing on infusing fresh capital, restructuring debt, viability gap funding for rural telephony etc.

In 2023, the government approved the allotment of 4G/5G spectrum to BSNL with a total outlay of around ₹89,000 crore.

In addition to these revival packages, the cabinet notefor additional capex support of ₹6,982 crore has been approved on February 7, 2025, the ministry had informed Parliament.

As a result of these steps, BSNL has staged a financial revival.

“The last time BSNL earned a quarterly profit was in 2007. After 18 years, in the October-December quarter, we have posted a ₹262 crore net profit with BSNL,” he said.

Satellite interest

The telecom minister said that India is open for everyone to do business in satellite communications services, provided they meet the requirements set by the government.

The minister said that satellite services will be complementary to the existing communication network and help in covering rural and remote areas while also providing internet connectivity during natural disasters.

“We have already given out two licences, one to Reliance and the other to Bharti Airtel. For satellites, we have a number of companies that are in the pipeline that have applied,” Scindia said.

The minister said thatsatellite companies need to meet the requirements to begin their operations in the country.

“We welcome them with open arms. India is open for everyone to do business, provided you tick the boxes, you get spectrum, and you start business,” Scindia said.

The minister said there are four telecom service providers in the country and that will continue to be the case.