Wireless carriers in India are making good on their promise to roll out 5G at a breakneck pace. The number of base transceiver stations has increased nearly fivefold in six months from just shy of 20,000 to more than 94,000 in northeast India, Union Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw, said recently, according to the Economic Times.
Indian Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman said he is “heartened” by the total coverage, which includes 140,000 5G base stations in 570 districts, according to the Economic Times.
“It (the rollout) is growing at a very rapid pace. This is despite challenges such as chip shortages. We believe that by early next year, we will have a pervasive rollout across the country,” Rajaraman said.
India is beating both the U.S. and Europe in its rollout of 5G, Börje Ekholm the CEO of Ericsson AB, said at the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Davos event in January, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“India will have the strongest digital infrastructure outside of China and soon, will be comparable to China,” he said according to the paper’s report on the Davos panel. “The pace of rollout you see in India is very, very rapid… If you don’t have a digital infrastructure, you’re unlikely to have digital companies. India will have a digital infrastructure that is world class.”
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are responsible for most of the build out, deploying 82,509 sites and 19,142 sites, respectively, for 5G services. Delhi, the capital, has more than 13,000 sites, while Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Mumbai have between 7,000 and 8,000 sites.
Simultaneously 4G technology is also being rolled out, the government said. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has approved four projects that promise 4G coverage in every village, with the approval of 25,000 new towers so far.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Wireless Technology Editor
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