BSNL Mobile


Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is an Indian central public sector undertaking, under the ownership of Department of Telecommunications, which is part of the Ministry of Communications, Government of India with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. The central public sector undertaking was established on 01-October-2000 by the Government of India. Its highest official is designated as Chairperson and Managing Director, who is a central civil service group 'A' gazetted officer from Indian Communication Finance Service cadre or central engineering service group 'A' gazetted officer from Indian Telecommunication Service cadre. It provides mobile voice and internet services through its nationwide telecommunications network across India. It is the largest government-owned-wireless telecommunications service provider in India.

History

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited was incorporated on 15 September 2000. It took over the business of providing telecom services and network management from the erstwhile Central Government Departments of Telecom Services and Telecom Operations, with effect from 1 October 2000 on a going concern basis, in early days it was known as CellOne for GSM mobile services, CellOne for Postpaid services & Excel for Prepaid Services. BSNL's network was launched in late 2002 and in the year 2007, its consumer mobility business was renamed from CellOne to BSNL Mobile. It was the first company that made incoming roaming charges free across the country. BSNL has coverage in almost all major cities and each town and more places are being covered. BSNL Mobile offers GSM prepaid and postpaid services.

3G

On 27 February 2010, BSNL Mobile launched 3G services on Pan India. BSNL Mobile also has 3G Roaming services in Mumbai & Delhi for other circles subscribers through an agreement with MTNL, This gives BSNL Mobile a 3G presence in all 22 out of 22 circles in India.

4G

On 27 September 2025, BSNL Mobile launched 4G services on pan india, Prime Minister Sri. Narendra Modi inaugurated Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s Swadeshi 4G network, developed entirely in India, which the government claims can seamlessly integrate with 5G in the future, will also commission over 97,500 mobile 4G towers spread across the country, built at a cost of ₹37,000 crore. BSNL Mobile has started providing 4G services in some telecom circles of India. As a part of a revival package promised by the Indian Government, BSNL is deploying 4G technology in its countrywide network using an indigenous 4G/5G stack developed by TCS & C-DoT led consortium. On 15 July 2023, BSNL launched its beta 4G services in Amritsar, Punjab, after successfully conducting a Proof of Concept of the Indian 4G stack equipment across 200 live 4G network sites in Firozpur, Pathankot, Bathinda and Amritsar in India.

VoLTE & HD Calling

BSNL is launching 4G technology with VoLTE with VoWIFI support starting from the city of Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir in India.

5G

BSNL Mobile is expected to start 5G services soon

VoNR

Currently, BSNL is working with its vendor partner to come up with 5G in NSA mode then BSNL will migrate towards 5G in SA mode.

VoWiFi

BSNL launched Voice over WiFi services nationwide across all telecom circles on 1 January 2026 ahead of 5G rollout, enabling calls and messages over WiFi using existing mobile number. The free, IMS-based service ensures seamless connectivity in low-signal areas.

Spectrum frequency holding summary

BSNL owns spectrum in 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands across the country.
Telecom circle coverageFD-NR/LTE
700MHz
Band n28/Band 28
FD-LTE
850MHz
Band 5
E-GSM
900MHz
Band 8
GSM / FD-LTE
1800MHz
Band 3
UMTS / FD-LTE
2100MHz
Band 1
TD-LTE
2500MHz
Band 41
TD-NR
3300MHz
Band n78
TD-NR
26GHz
Band n258
Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
Gujarat
Karnataka
Maharashtra & Goa
Tamil Nadu
Haryana
Kerala
Kolkata
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Punjab
Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh (East)
Uttar Pradesh (West)
West Bengal
Assam
Bihar & Jharkhand
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh
North East
Odisha
Mumbai
Delhi