The government is poised to proffer a massive push to telecom infrastructure across the country with plans to add as many as 800,000 new mobile tower over the next two years ahead of the rollout of 5G network. This move by the government aims at increasing the current tower strength by over two times. The move is coupled with plan to ensure that nearly three out of four towers are connected through optic fibre to increase their data-carrying capacity.
Through this move the government strives to ensure a vastly connected digital environment that can support new-age tech, such as those centred around internet of things (IoT), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) casts, autonomous driving and smart home solutions. The government envisages adequate enablers to be in place to support the growth of digital infrastructure as internet becomes central to a variety of tasks.
With the implementation of the plan, tower density s expected to go up from 0. 4 per 1,000 population to 1 per 1,000 population by the end of March 2024.
India, at present, has 680,000 towers installed across the country. As per the plan, more than 1.5 million towers are to be installed by financial year 2024. To this end, consultations will be held with stakeholders to plan a strategy for faster fiberisation.
As per estimates, currently, around 34 per cent of the towers have been fiberised in India. The country aims to take this figure up to 70 per cent by end of March 2024. Experts believe that as spectrum holdings of telecom companies get stronger through regular auctions, the next set of efforts is needed in infrastructure development. As per sources, the government also wants to set up a National Fibre Authority (NFA) on the lines of other regulatory authorities.
