The government has informed the parliament that 5G services have been rolled out in 329 cities spread across all licensed service areas (LSAs). In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications, said that population-scale solutions are being tested on Indian 4G/5G indigenous stacks across platforms such as healthcare, agriculture, smart manufacturing, education, gaming, and drones.
Listing some of the steps taken by the government to help telcos roll out 5G services, Chauhan informed that additional spectrum has been made available, while spectrum sharing, trading, leasing and surrender have been permitted as per extant notice inviting application (NIA) terms and conditions and guidelines issued from time to time.
Further, the minister added that to facilitate faster and easier deployment of telecom infrastructure, the government amended the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules (RoW), 2016 in August 2022. These amendments pave the way for the deployment of 5G small cells and optical fibre cable on existing street infrastructure and also rationalise the fees and charges paid by the telecom licensees for RoW permissions.
