NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to explore opportunities for exporting India’s indigenously developed 4G technology to other countries, said Neeraj Mittal, Secretary of the DoT, on Thursday.
Mittal, while speaking on the sidelines of a press briefing for the India Mobile Congress 2025, revealed that several countries have expressed interest in adopting Indian-made 4G technology. He also noted that one private telecom service provider is already conducting trials to deploy the indigenous 4G stack.
“Yes, there are countries that have expressed interest. One of our telecom service providers is already experimenting with deploying the technology. We already have over 20 million consumers using indigenous 4G technology — that is more than the population of many smaller countries. So yes, we are well-positioned to export,” Mittal said.
India has developed a fully indigenous 4G technology stack, known as the "Swadeshi 4G Stack" or "Bharat Telecom Stack." The core network was developed by the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), while Tejas Networks provided the Radio Access Network (RAN). Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) served as the system integrator. The technology is currently being deployed by the state-owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and is designed to be seamlessly upgradeable to 5G, thereby strengthening national security and digital sovereignty.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated BSNL’s 100,000th mobile tower in Odisha. During the inauguration ceremony of the ninth India Mobile Congress, he highlighted that India’s indigenous 4G technology is ready for global deployment.
“Once we have a platform or framework in place, we’ll be ready to move forward. We are working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs to explore these opportunities,” Mittal added.
On the issue of providing one-time AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) relief to the debt-laden Vodafone Idea, Mittal said the matter is currently sub judice. “The Hon’ble Communications Minister has already spoken on this. The matter is sub judice. I do not want to comment on anything that is currently in court,” he said.
