BSNL Mobile (formerly CellOne) is a

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Bharat, or Bharath, may refer to: * Bharat (term), the name for India in various Indian languages ** Bharata Khanda, the Sanskrit name for the Indian subcontinent (or South Asia) * Bharata, the name of several legendary figures or groups: ** Bhar ...

which is under the ownership of

Department of Telecommunications The Department of Telecommunications, abbreviated to DoT, is a department of the Ministry of Communications of the executive branch of the Government of India. History Telecom services have been recognized the world-over as an important tool f ...

under

Ministry of Communications A Communications Ministry or Department of Communications is a ministry or other government agency charged with communication. Communications responsibilities includes regulating telecommunications, postal services, broadcasting and print media. T ...

of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. It provides both pre-paid and post-paid mobile services as well as many value added services. BSNL Mobile has a pan-India presence with presence in all the 22

telecom circle In India, mobile numbers (including pagers) on GSM, WCDMA, and LTE networks start with either 9, 8, 7 or 6. Each telecom circle is allowed to have multiple private operators; earlier it was two private + BSNL/MTNL, subsequently it changed to three ...

s in India. It is the fourth largest mobile network operator in India. It provides all of India services with roaming access, including

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, and International roaming access to more than 300 networks across the world. As of 30 September 2022, BSNL Mobile has a subscriber base of 112.12 million,making it 4th largest mobile telecommunications network in India and 22nd largest mobile telecommunications network in the world.

History

The company's CellOne network (

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

/ GPRS) was launched in late 2002 and has coverage in major cities and towns and more places are being covered. BSNL Mobile offers both

as well as

CDMA Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...

prepaid and postpaid services. CellOne was renamed BSNL Mobile in 2007. It was the first company which made incoming roaming charges free across the country.

Operations

3G

On 27 February 2010, BSNL Mobile launched 3G services on Pan India. BSNL Mobile also has 3G Roaming services in

for other circles subscribers through an agreement with

MTNL Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) (d/b/a MTNL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited which is in turn under the ownership of Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India. Head ...

, This gives BSNL Mobile a 3G presence in all 22 out of 22 circles in India.

4G

BSNL Mobile has started providing 4G services in some telecom circles of India. It has deployed LTE Band 1 in those telecom circles, by upgrading its existing 3G towers. As a part of a revamp package promised by the Indian Government, BSNL floated a tender in April 2020 for procuring tower related telecom equipment for LTE deployment in other bands. The ailing network provider hit another roadblock in deploying 4G towers. The Telecom Equipment Promotion Council (India) alleged that BSNL has floated the tender with stringent norms which would discourage the local vendors in the country. Meanwhile, there were no similar guidelines or directions given by any government agencies to any private players, arising a foul play suspicion. As of now, BSNL is expected to roll out 4G services using 60% of its existing towers which are capable of supporting LTE. Currently top management of BSNL are in talks with private network operators like

Airtel India Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and third largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries o ...

Vodafone Idea Vodafone Idea (or Vi, and/but stylised as ''V!'') is an Indian telecom operator with its headquarters based in Mumbai and Gandhinagar. It is a pan-India integrated GSM operator offering 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G+, VoLTE, and VoWiFi service. As of 31 ...

for 4G ICRA to commence LTE services once the 4G procurement tender is passed successfully. After that its own 4G network will be available.

VoLTE

BSNL has launched VoLTE services in circles where it is providing its 4G services.

5G

BSNL Mobile is going to provide its 5G services from 15th August 2023.

VoNR

Spectrum frequency holding summary

BSNL owns spectrum in 600 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2500 MHz, 3500 MHz and 26 GHz bands across the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

References

{{Telecommunication companies of India Telecommunications companies of India