Lok Sabha Question No. 116 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-07
Subject: 5G Network
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Janardan Singh Sigriwal, Bheemrao Baswanthrao Patil, Dibyendu Adhikari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 116 TO BE ANSWERED ON 7 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## 5G NETWORK

| 116.                                                                                                                                                                                                              | SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL: SHRI B.B. PATIL: SHRI DIBYENDU ADHIKARI:                                                                                                                                                                            |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (a) whether the Government has started 5G network in the country and if so, the details and the operational status thereof;                                                                                       | (a) whether the Government has started 5G network in the country and if so, the details and the operational status thereof;                                                                                                                       |
| (b)                                                                                                                                                                                                               | the details of States/locations identified for 5G services in the first phase;                                                                                                                                                                    |
| (c)                                                                                                                                                                                                               | whether the difficulties are being faced by consumers to receive the said network despite the introduction of this facility in metro cities;                                                                                                      |
| (d)                                                                                                                                                                                                               | if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures being taken by the Government in this regard;                                                                                                                                              |
| (e) the                                                                                                                                                                                                           | whether the Government has provided proper basic facilities for operating 5G network in view of recent claims made by the mobile service operators, if so, the details thereof and the details of the basic infrastructure provided in Telangana; |
| (f) the details of the plan of the Government to overcome the vulnerabilities and increased attack of Malware; and                                                                                                | (f) the details of the plan of the Government to overcome the vulnerabilities and increased attack of Malware; and                                                                                                                                |
| (g)                                                                                                                                                                                                               | the time by which the 5G network would likely to be start in all parts of the country?                                                                                                                                                            |
| ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)                                                                                                                                               | ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)                                                                                                                                                                               |
| (a)                                                                                                                                                                                                               | Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have started providing 5G services in the country from 01.10.2022 onwards and as of now, 5G services have been launched in 50 towns.                                                                             |
| (b) The Department has specified rollout obligations in the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) for auction of access spectrum in terms of number of towns and number of sites to be covered over the next 5 years. | (b) The Department has specified rollout obligations in the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) for auction of access spectrum in terms of number of towns and number of sites to be covered over the next 5 years.                                 |
| (c) and (d) The rollout of 5G network is in its initial phase. However, no feedback/complaints have been received/ reported byTSPs for any difficulties faced by 5Gusers wherever the 5Gnetwork is available.     | (c) and (d) The rollout of 5G network is in its initial phase. However, no feedback/complaints have been received/ reported byTSPs for any difficulties faced by 5Gusers wherever the 5Gnetwork is available.                                     |

(e) In order to facilitate rollout of telecom network (including 5G) and expansion of telecommunication infrastructure, the Government has taken following policy initiatives for  all regions of India (including Telangana):-

- Making available sufficient spectrum for mobile services through auction
- Allowing spectrum sharing and trading
- Removal of additional Spectrum Usage Charge (SUC) of 0.5% for spectrum sharing
- Allowing sharing of infrastructure by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs)
- Notifying Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 dated 15.11.2016 for regulating underground infrastructure and overground infrastructure and amendments thereof;

(f) Department of Telecom (DoT) has notified Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules 2017 enabling Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunication Equipment (MTCTE), which prescribes that any telegraph which is used or capable of being used with any telegraph established, maintained or worked under the license granted by the Central Government in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, shall have to undergo prior mandatory testing and certification in respect of parameters as determined by the telegraph authority from time to time. Telecom Engineering Centre(TEC) has been designated as the Telegraph Authority for the purpose of administration of MTCTE procedure and Surveillance Procedure, and for formulation of Essential Requirements (ER) under MTCTE. One of the important parameter of ER against which the testing and certification shall be carried out is the Security Requirement.  The  National  Centre  for  Communication  Security  (NCCS),  DoT  Bengaluru  has  been entrusted  with  the  responsibility  of  drafting  the  same  which  are  known  as  Indian  Telecom  Security Assurance Requirement (ITSAR). 11 ITSARs for different core elements of 5G have been issued by NCCS.

Security requirements are framed by NCCS, for each Telecom product as per the country requirements by following an open, consultative and transparent process. NCCS is responsible for formulating ITSAR which is published under MTCTE framework.

The Cabinet Committee on Security has approved the National Security Directive on the Telecommunications Sector (NSDTS) which mandates the telecom service provider to procure and deploy trusted product from trusted sources only. The directive has come into effect from 15.06.2021 onwards and licenses have been suitably amended.

Telecom  Security  Operation  Centre  (TSOC)  has  been  developed  for  monitoring  the  security  of  the telecommunication network in the country. It monitors the metadata for proactive detection and appropriate action for any anomaly in the traffic leading to a telecom Security incident.

(g) As per the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) for auction of access spectrum and license conditions, the minimum rollout obligations are required to be met over a period of five years in a phased manner from the date of allocation of 5G spectrum. Further expansion of mobile network beyond the mandatory rollout obligations, depends on the techno-commercial consideration of the TSPs.

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