According to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), over 24,600 villages, mostly located in remote and far-flung areas, are expected to get Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) 4G services by December 2023. Elaborating on the work being carried out by the department in tribal areas, DoT said that it has launched several schemes that have provided telecom infrastructure and connectivity in areas with a sizeable tribal population.
DoT informed that under the saturation scheme for providing 4G mobile services in 24,680 uncovered villages, a project is being executed by BSNL and is slated to be completed by December 2023. It further stated that 2,343 mobile towers have been installed in remote areas of states including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal under Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-I scheme. Another 2,542 mobile towers are being installed under the LWE-II scheme. Meanwhile, DoT plans to connect 7.789 new villages under the Aspirational Districts scheme.
