Indian telecom operators surpass 3-year 5G rollout target in six months

Telecom Additional Secretary V.L. Kantha Rao said that more than rolling out 5G services for consumers, it is very important that there is a rollout of 5G use cases for industry, education, health, agriculture

Indian telecom operators have surpassed the three-year 5G network rollout target given to them within six months and now the government is making efforts to enhance adoption of 5G applications across various key segments, a senior government official said here.

Department of Telecom Additional Secretary V.L. Kantha Rao told PTI at "India Evening" event on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress 2023 that the government has hosted over 50 companies at the India pavilion and the delegation is here to showcase indigenously-developed 4G and 5G technology stack.

"When the spectrum was allocated to telecom service providers for 5G rollout, we gave a minimum rollout obligation saying that within one year they have to cover a few cities within three years, a few towns and so on and so forth. I'm glad to say that in the first six months of 5G rollout, they have surpassed all the targets that we have given them for the next three years," Mr. Rao said.

He said the rapid rollout of the 5G network in India shows that telecom service providers in India have seen the opportunity of 5G.

"They have set up more than one lakh sites in 350 towns. They have even announced that by the end of this year they will cover majority of the towns in the country. So this is a big plus for the rollout of 5G services in India," Mr. Rao said.

Both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have been rolling out a 5G network across the country. However, debt-ridden Vodafone Idea is awaiting fund raise post which it will infuse capital for rolling out 5G services.

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that state-owned BSNL will start 5G services by April 2024.