According to the Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha, the 5G services have been rolled out in all states and union territories (UTs) across India and are now available in 99.8 per cent of the country’s districts. As of June 30, 2025, 0.486 million 5G base transceiver stations (BTSs) have been installed by telecom service providers (TSPs) nationwide.
TSPs have expanded the 5G services across the country and have gone beyond the minimum rollout obligations outlined in the notice inviting applications (NIA) for spectrum auction. Expansion of mobile services beyond these obligations depends on the techno-commercial consideration of the TSPs.
Further, the government has taken several initiatives for proliferation of 5G services, which, inter alia, include the following:
- Auction of spectrum for 5G mobile services
- Financial reforms involving adjusted gross revenue (AGR), bank guarantees (BGs) and interest rates.
- Removal of spectrum usage charges for spectrum acquired in auction of 2022 and thereafter.
- Simplification of procedure for Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocations (SACFA) clearance.
- Launch of PM GatiShakti Sanchar Portal and right of way (RoW) rules to streamline RoW permissions and clearance of installation of telecom infrastructure.
- Lastly, time-bound permission for use of street furniture for installation of small cells and telecommunication line.
Furthermore, for ensuring deployment of 5G services, 100 5G Use Case labs have been set up at higher educational institutions across the country. Additionally, collaboration has been done for capacity building and skill development with international companies such as Ericsson and Qualcomm for development of 5G use cases.
