Lok Sabha Question No. 1671 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-13
Subject: Reach of 5G Services
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: P.P. Chaudhary, Gajendra Singh Patel, Ramapati Ram Tripathi, C. R. Patil, Anurag Sharma, Sangamlal Kadedin Gupta

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1671 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## REACH OF 5G SERVICES

## 1671.   SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY:

SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH PATEL:

DR. RAMAPATI RAM TRIPATHI:

SHRI C.R. PATIL:

SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

SHRI SANGAM LAL GUPTA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has adopted newer programmes or technologies to extend the reach of 5G services even to the remotest corner of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is planning to install 5G services in the Common Services Centres situated in the rural hinterlands of the country and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise; and
- (c) the details of data on the number of towers that have been upgraded to 5G capacity in the country, State/UT-wise especially in Pali district of Rajasthan, Deoria, Jhansi and Pratapgarh districts of Uttar Pradesh, Navsari district of Gujarat and Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

- (a) to (c) The Government has adopted several steps to facilitate faster rollout of 5G networks and to extend the reach of 5G services to all parts of the country, salient among which are as follows:
- (i) Series of financial reforms resulting in rationalization of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).
- (ii) Assignment  of  sufficient  spectrum  for  mobile  services  through  open  &  transparent auction.
- (iii) Spectrum sharing, trading, leasing and surrender has been permitted to promote efficient use.
- (iv) Simplification  of  Procedure  for  SACFA  (Standing  Advisory  Committee  on  Radio Frequency  Allocations)  clearance.  After  implementation  of  this  simplified  procedure, average processing time for SACFA Clearance has significantly reduced to just 5 days.
- (v) Right of Way (RoW) Rules, 2016 have been notified under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. Pursuant to this, all States/ UTs have notified their RoW policies. This has resulted in streamlining of RoW permissions and expeditious clearance for installation of telecom infrastructure.
- (vi) Procedure for application  and time-bound permission for usage of street furniture for installation of small cells and telegraph line has been specified in Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2022.
- (vii) PM GatiShakti Sanchar portal has been launched to expedite RoW permissions.

Accordingly in a short period of 14 months after the launch of 5G services on 01-10-2022, 5G networks have been rolled out in 738 districts across the country and a total of 3,97,923 base stations  have  been  installed.  This  is  one  of  the  fastest  rollout  of  5G  networks  in  the  world. Approximately 100 million mobile subscribers have started using 5G services in the country. With these numbers, India is now amongst the leading 5G ecosystems in the world and all users including Common Services Centres will benefit from higher speeds of 5G.

The  relevant  details  of  5G  base  stations  installation  are  available  on  Department  of Telecommunications (DoT) website.

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