BSNL's 5G FWA service offers only high speed data without voice.
BSNL says its 5G FWA service is not meant for end consumers
Photo Credit: BSNL
BSNL recently soft launched its Q-5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) service in select Indian circles. Aimed at businesses and enterprises, the SIM-free wireless internet lease line has been introduced with plans starting at Rs. 999 per month. With this plan, the state-owned telecom operator will offer 100Mbps speed. Further, it will offer another higher-priced plan with faster data speeds. The pilot for the BSNL 5G FWA service will begin in September 2025 beginning with Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Pune, and select other cities in India.
In a press release, BSNL said its 5G FWA service is a production-grade 5G service with a SIM-less architecture. It is built on a direct-to-device platform where the Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) automatically authenticates, eliminating the need for a physical SIM verification.
The introductory plans for the BSNL 5G FWA service in India will start at Rs. 999 per month which offers 100Mbps speed. Businesses and enterprises can also opt for the Rs. 1,499 monthly plan that has 300Mbps speed. Its pilot will begin in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Gwalior, Pondicherry, Pune, and Visakhapatnam by September 2025.
The service is said to have a fully indigenous stack, with core, Radio Access Network (RAN), and CPE integrated by vendors in India. It was launched at BSNL's Ameerpet Exchange in Hyderabad and was tested for Gigabyte-class speeds. The telecom operator said it delivered 980Mbps (download) and 140 (upload) speeds with latency as low as 10ms. This is advertised to be ideal for streaming in Ultra HD resolution, remote work, and cloud gaming.
The 5G FWA service has a self-install gateway which is compatible with existing tower grids. This results in faster deployment as opposed to traditional broadband services where trenching or fibre-pulling is required, as per BSNL.
Additionally, the same indigenous 5G standalone (SA) core, which has been deployed for the 5G FWA service, can also serve as the foundation of enterprise solutions such as network splicing and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). This is aimed at Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and smart-manufacturing clusters.
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