In line with the pace at which 5G is being rolled out in the country, there will be 100% coverage of 5G in the country by December 2024, communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday .
The statement from the minister assumes significance as telecom operators such as Jio and Airtel have launched 5G in 387 districts, with deployment of 100,000 base transceiver
stations (BTS).
“We had promised India will achieve 5G coverage across 200 cities and districts by March 31 in the phase one. As on today, India has covered 387 districts with 5G and 100,000 sites,” Vaishnaw said, adding that India’s 5G roll-out is one of the fastest in the world.
BTS is an equipment that facilitates communication between telecom network and consumer devices.
The reason for a faster pace of 5G coverage can be attributed to competition between the two telecom players for the market share, increased consumption of data with evolved technology usecases, and the easier right-of-way related permissions to lay telecom infrastructure.
“Today, 85% of the permissions to lay telecom towers are happening instantaneously. The average duration to approve (the telecom infra-related requests) is 7 days, which was earlier 200 days,” Vaishnaw added.
When asked about the timeline for the next reforms for the sector, Vaishnaw said the immediate target is to get the telecom bill passed in the coming monsoon session and that will lead to a major series of reforms in terms of spectrum, licences, and regulations.
“We are working on all the inputs that we have received (on the telecom Bill) from various ministries, industry participants, global bodies, and other regulators. We are taking all those inputs into consideration and we will be coming up with the final draft very soon,” Vaishnaw said.
The government has also been focussing on implementing indigenous technology stack to rollout 4G and 5G services by BSNL.
On Monday, the telecom operator has deployed the country’s first indigenous ‘eNodeB’ hardware which is a wireless base station that is used to carry communication between mobile and cellular networks with LTE or 4G technology.
“There is no delay (in offering tender by BSNL for procuring equipments). It is a very complex transaction…but the process has started yesterday,” Vaishnaw said.
Currently, about 18 countries have shown interest in India’s 4G and 5G stack.
During his address, Vaishnaw mentioned that India
has won the Government Leadership Award 2023 by London-based telecom body GSM Association (GSMA)
for implementing best practices in telecom policy and regulation.
“Indian telecom sector has emerged as a sunrise sector and the whole world has taken note of this rise,” Vaishnaw said.
