A total of 41,160 mobile towers have been sanctioned with an outlay of Rs 41,331 Crore to provide 4G connectivity to about 55,000 villages, the Ministry of Communications told the Rajya Sabha in response to a question on Friday. Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan informed the Upper House in a written reply regarding the telecommunication network in Indian villages.
Also Read: Government Initiatives for Internet Connectivity in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep
BharatNet Expansion
Additionally, the scope of the BharatNet program has been expanded to connect all inhabited villages with an outlay of 1.88 Lakh Crore, said the minister in his reply.
Rapid Roll-out of 5G
Regarding the Roll-out of 5G in India, the Minister said, "5G services were launched in India on October 01, 2022. Within a span of 14 months, more than 4.15 Lakh 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) are providing connectivity across 742 districts in the country. More than 13 Cr subscribers have begun to use 5G services. This is the fastest roll-out of 5G anywhere in the world."
The MoS also said that telecom connectivity in India has improved significantly in the last 10 years from May 2014 to December 2023, with the number of Base Transceiver stations increasing from 6.49 Lakh to 28 Lakh. Meanwhile, Optical fiber laid increased from 10.62 lakh km in May 2014 to 39 lakh km in December 2023.
Also Read: Department of Telecommunications Launches Bharat 5G Portal
Decrease in Data Costs
Furthermore, the government put it on record that the cost of data has decreased from Rs 269 per GB in May 2014 to Rs 9.94 per GB in December 2023, with the Median Internet speed also increasing from 1.3 Mbps to 75.8 Mbps during the same period. The reply data also showed that the Gram Panchayats connected under BharatNet have increased from 58 to 2.10 lakh in the same period.
