5G Services Launched in 329 Cities Across Licensed Service Areas: MoS Chauhan

5G companies have been rolled out throughout 329 cities unfold throughout all licensed service areas, Lok Sabha was knowledgeable on Wednesday.

Population-scale options are being examined on Indian 4G/5G indigenous stacks throughout the platforms resembling healthcare, agriculture, sensible manufacturing, schooling, gaming, and drones, Minister of State for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan stated in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

“5G services have been rolled out in 329 cities distributed across all Licensed Service Areas (LSAs),” Chauhan identified.

The Center for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) have developed an indigenous 4G/5G expertise stack. The Proof of Concept of C-DoT’s 4G expertise stack has been efficiently carried out in the BSNL community.

“RJIL’s stack is being extensively deployed in rolling out of its 5G network. These indigenous technology stacks may be exported to other countries in future,” the minister stated.

Meanwhile, to a different query, Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated BSNL’s 5G companies could be offered after rollout of 4G companies throughout India.

BSNL floated a young on October 2022 for 1 lakh 4G websites. The bid was opened on November 23, 2022.

“The evaluation of the bid has been concluded and is under submission for approval of the Group of Ministers (GoM). 4G services will be started all over India including Maharashtra and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, within 18-24 months after placing the Purchase Order,” Vaishnaw stated.

Replying to a query on the merger of BSNL and MTNL, MoS Chauhan stated that the Cabinet, whereas approving the revival bundle for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on July 27, 2022, had accredited formation of a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) for detailed examination to resolve issues of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) together with merger of MTNL with BSNL.

To one other query on OTT communications sevices, Chauhan talked about that the draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 launched for public session in September, refers to ‘OTT communication companies’ as a kind of telecommunication service.

“The policy objective is that all forms of telecommunication, which include OTT communication services, need to be covered under the ambit of law. The draft Telecommunication Bill, will undergo further revision based on comments/suggestions received during the public consultation,” Chauhan stated.