Skipper Secures Rs. 2,570 Cr. 4G Order from BSNL
Skipper Ltd., a Kolkata-based manufacturer of Power Transmission and Distribution (T&D), telecom and railway structures, has secured an order worth Rs. 2,750 crore from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL). The company stated in its stock filing dated 30th December 2022 that this telecom order pertains to 4G network concentration in villages of Rajasthan and Odisha.
Rural Outreaches of Rajasthan, Odisha to be Covered under this BSNL Order
Rural areas of Rajasthan and Odisha without any form of existing mobile connectivity, or having 2G/3G coverage, will be addressed under this project. This project is to be completed within 5 years in CapEx and OpEx modes.
Scope of work for Skipper as per the order entails supply and installation of ground-based telecom towers and other requisite infrastructure for 4G network saturation. A total of 3,350 tower sites will be developed under this order. Additionally, Operations and Maintenance (O&M) services for the subsequent 5 years will be offered by Skipper, which shall be extendable by another 5 years.
Out of the total value of the order, Rs. 1,350 crore worth of works shall be executed in Rajasthan, while Rs. 1,220 crore will be used in Odisha.
Funding for this project will be provided by Government of India’s Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which is a designated reserve to extend connectivity to the rustic and remote reaches of the hinterland.
Commenting on this order win, Mr. Sajan Kumar Bansal, Managing Director Skipper Limited, said, “The project will promote the delivery of various e-governance services, banking services, telemedicine, tele education etc through mobile broadband and promote employment in rural areas”
BSNL’s 4G Rollout Based on Homegrown Technology, 5G Rollout being Planned
BSNL will be launching 4G services in India based on indigenously developed 4G stack in early 2023. The 4G stack refers to upper networking protocol layers. Any data transferred over any network goes through several layers of networking which are based on networking hardware and software.
This 4G stack was developed by BSNL in collaboration with Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). TCS will also be maintaining BSNL’s 4G network for a period of 10 years.
After its 4G launch, the state-owned telco plans to roll out 5G NSA (Non-Stand Alone) network which needs existing 4G infrastructure.
About Skipper Ltd.: Skipper Ltd. was established in 1981, and is a manufacturer of power T&D and telecom infrastructure, and polymer pipes and fittings. The company has presence in over 40 countries across Latin America, Europe, and Africa.