India's own 4G network prepared in shortest possible time: Telecom Minister Vaishnaw

Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India’s indigenous 4G mobile network has been prepared in the shortest possible time and is ready for rollout soon, while the 5G network will be ready by the end of 2022.

Vaishnaw said after many years, state-owned BSNL has been able to make operating profit after improvement in its services.

“The whole world is looking at us with surprise, as how India has built its 4G network so soon,” Vaishnaw said during Question Hour on Wednesday.

“The scientists have predicted that our 5G network will be ready by the end of this year,” Vaishnaw said.

Replying to a supplementary on the poor connectivity in many areas of the country, Vaishnaw said that nine schemes have been taken by the government to improve mobile telecom networks that include construction of over 9,000 towers in aspirational districts and Northeastern region.

Vaishnaw said that a ₹6,446 crore scheme has also been taken to improve mobile infrastructure in over 60,200 villages across the country.

“Results have started coming due to all these initiatives and the mobile network has been improved significantly in different parts of the country,” Vaishnaw said.

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Referring to BSNL, the minister said that everyone knew who was responsible for the poor health of the company but because of the steps taken by the government, BSNL has been able to make operational profit after a long time and people should acknowledge it.

“After the ₹69,000 crore package announced in 2019, BSNL has become a stable entity. In this year’s budget too, ₹44,720 crore provision has been made,” Vaishnaw said.

The minister said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India monitors the performance of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), including BSNL, against the benchmarks for various Quality of Service (QoS) parameters laid down by TRAI by way of QoS regulations issued from time to time, through Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs) received from TSPs.

“As per PMR for quarter ended September 2021, BSNL is meeting, in general, most of the QoS parameters for its cellular and basic services in Uttar Pradesh, including its aspirational districts,” the minister said.

(With inputs from Agencies)