India’s telecom operators are installing an average of 2,500 base stations per week in order to provide 5G services in the country, Union minister Devusinh Chauhan announced on Friday.
The Minister of State for Communications informed Rajya Sabha that 20,980 mobile base stations were installed as of November 26. Reliance Jio has installed 17,687 base stations among the telcos, while Airtel has established 3,293.
Through a written reply, Chauhan said, “Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have started providing 5G services in the country from October 1, 2022 onwards. On 26 November, 20,980 base stations were installed in 14 states and union territories. On average, TSPs are installing approximately 2,500 base stations per week,”
He said telecom operators have reported that they are presently providing 5G services to their subscribers, having 5G enabled devices, at no extra cost. “Presently, separate counts of 5G users are not being maintained by TSPs”.
In response to a question on the 5G services of BSNL and MTNL, communications minister Ashiwni Vaishnaw said BSNL floated the tender in October 2022 for its requirement of 1 lakh 4G sites.
“Further, the government has reserved the spectrum for BSNL for its 5G services while conducting the spectrum auction in July 2022,” Vaishnaw said.
