41,160 mobile towers have been sanctioned to provide 4G connectivity to about 55,000 villages: Centre to Rajya Sabha

New Delhi [India], February 2 (ANI): 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 Centre told the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Union Minister of State for Communications Devsinh Chauhan informed the Upper House in a written reply to a question.

Noting that 5G services were launched in India on October 1, 2022, the MoS said “Within a span of 14 months, more than 4.15 lakh 5G sites are providing connectivity across 742 districts in the country.”

“This is the fastest roll-out of 5G anywhere in the world,” Chauhan said while replying to the question of Independent MP Kartikeya Sharma, adding “The government is implementing various schemes to further improve telecom connectivity in the country.”

He said the scope of the BharatNet program has been expanded to connect all inhabited villages with an outlay of Rs 1.88 lakh crore, adding the state-wise details of the Gram Panchayats covered in BharatNet and Wi-Fi hotspots are available on the Department of Telecommunications website.

The MoS also said that the telecom connectivity in India has improved significantly in the last 10 years from May 2014 to Dec 2023.

As per data shared by the Minister, the number of base transceiver stations increased from 6.49 lakh in May 2014 to 28 lakh in December 2023.

Optical fiber laid increased from 10.62 lakh km in May 2014 to 39 lakh km in December 2023, pointed the data, mentioning that the number of internet users has increased from 25.15 crore in May 2014 to 88.12 crore in December 2023.

The cost of data has decreased from Rs 269 per GB in May 2014 to Rs. 9.94 per GB in December 2023, it said, stating that the median internet speed has increased from 1.3 Mbps to 75.8 Mbps during the period.

The data also showed that the Gram Panchayats connected under BharatNet has increased from 58 to 2.10 lakh.