India’s 5G rollout has reached near-universal coverage, with services now available in 99.9% of the country’s districts, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr. Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said all States and Union Territories are currently covered under the 5G network.
As of 31 October 2025, Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have installed 5.08 lakh 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) across rural and urban regions. Overall, India now has more than 31 lakh BTSs deployed nationwide, set up by both private operators and State-led service providers.
To tackle call drops and improve internet connectivity in underserved regions, the government highlighted multiple ongoing initiatives. These include the BharatNet project for broadband connectivity in Gram Panchayats and villages, schemes to expand mobile services in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts and Aspirational Districts, and the 4G Saturation scheme to ensure coverage in all uncovered villages.
Additionally, the government has launched the GatiShakti Sanchar portal and implemented updated Right of Way (RoW) Rules to streamline telecom infrastructure approvals.
Time-limited permissions have now been introduced for using street furniture such as lamp posts, traffic lights, and bus shelters to install small cells and telecom cables. This change is meant to speed up the rollout of network infrastructure by making it faster and easier for operators to place equipment in public areas.
The minister affirmed that these combined measures aim to strengthen telecom connectivity and ensure equitable digital access across the country.
(with inputs from PIB)
