Centre Sets 80% 5G Coverage Target In Short Timeframe: Minister

The government has given a target of 80 per cent coverage of 5G telecom services in the country in the short timeframe, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

Addressing an industry event in the national capital on Wednesday, Mr Vaishnaw said, "the journey of 5G is going to be very exciting and noted that many countries took multiple years to reach 40 per cent to 50 per cent coverage. But we are targeting a very aggressive timeline and the Government has given a target of 80 per cent coverage in a short time frame and we should definitely cover at least 80 per cent in a very short timeframe."

The minister asked the industry including Telecom Operators and Infrastructure Providers to move full steam ahead on improving the quality of services in the country as the government has introduced a slew of reforms, according to an official statement released by the Ministry of Communications.

He said more reforms are also lined up in the telecom sector.

Asking the industry to take measures to improve services, the minister said initiatives cannot be one-sided, and the equation has to be reciprocal.

Mr Vaishnaw said that service quality parameters have to be significantly increased, and the Telecom Department should approach the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in this regard. He advised the Telecom Department to send a new consultation paper to TRAI for significantly increasing the quality-of-service parameters almost making it 3X or 4X of what it is today.

While addressing the Annual Flagship Event 2022 of the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA), an apex industry body representing Digital Infrastructure providers industry in India, Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said our country is transforming from Developing Country into Developed Country and the Telecom Sector's role is crucial in achieving this.

He referred Prime Minister's Reform, Perform and Transform which should be the slogan of this sector to move ahead.

Mr Chauhan said that the last mile connectivity is very crucial for the development of the Telecom Sector and he advised the Telecom operators to work hard in this direction.

He further said that the 5G connectivity should play a major role in providing Health, Education, Mining, Transportation, Logistics fields etc. DIPA should play a pivotal role in this regard, he added.

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