The Department of Telecommunications is moving to introduce intra-circle roaming arrangements between telecom operators to address mobile connectivity gaps at government-funded Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) towers in unserved and sparsely covered villages.
Under the proposed framework, subscribers of operators such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be able to connect to another operator’s network if their own provider does not have a tower in the area. This will enable uninterrupted 4G services across around 35,400 rural and remote villages covered by nearly 27,000 DBN-funded sites. The initiative expands a facility that was earlier permitted largely during emergencies into a permanent mechanism for rural coverage, helping avoid duplication of towers and supporting faster rollout of DBN and BharatNet-led connectivity objectives.
