The launch of the locally developed 4G stack marks a milestone in the Indian government’s broader push for India to achieve self-reliance in telecom technology
In sum – what to know:
India’s first 4G stack – BSNL, TCS, C-DOT, and Tejas delivered the Bharat Telecom Stack, integrating core and radio tech across 100,000 sites.
Connectivity for 22 million people – Installed in nearly 97,500 towers, the system now reaches 26,700 villages, expanding affordable 4G while enabling an upgrade path to 5G.
Self-reliance milestone – India has become the fifth country to develop a full indigenous telecom stack, aligning with government ambitions for digital sovereignty.
Indian state-run telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the Center for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), and Tejas Networks have unveiled what it claims to be India’s first indigenously developed 4G technology stack, according to local press reports.
The cloud-based Bharat Telecom Stack was led by TCS, which integrated C-DOT’s EPC core network with Tejas’s radio and base station technology at 100,000 sites nationwide. As part of the project, TCS also established data centers and deployed its cognitive network operations (CNOPS) platform to enable real-time management of the network.
According to TCS, the system complies with 3GPP standards and was completed within two years, fully integrated into BSNL’s existing 2G and 3G infrastructure. The Economic Times reported that the stack has been installed at 97,500 towers across India, operated by BSNL, Reliance Jio Infocomm, and Bharti Airtel. These sites now cover 26,700 villages that previously lacked connectivity. The report also noted that all towers are designed to be upgradeable to 5G technology.
The launch of the locally developed 4G stack marks a milestone in the Indian government’s broader push for India to achieve self-reliance in telecom technology and position itself as a global hub for telecom manufacturing.
The Bharat Telecom Stack also enables BSNL to move forward with long-delayed 4G services. The operator soft-launched 4G in Delhi last month using a 4G-as-a-service model through a partner, and is now set to scale nationwide.
BSNL plans to roll out 5G services in Delhi and Mumbai by December 2025, according to recent press reports.
The report noted that the equipment used for the operator’s indigenously developed network has reportedly performed well during testing and is being readied 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,” said a senior official from the country’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
In June, the Indian government confirmed that BSNL was planning to deploy another 100,000 4G towers across the country. Then in August, the government committed an additional capital injection to strengthen BSNL’s network infrastructure.
