Quicken 5G tower roll-out by fourfold: Telecom Minister

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday gave the industry a target to make 10,000 towers 5G-capable every week as opposed to the current rate of of 2,500 towers a week, with an eye on expediting the roll-out of 5G services.

“The government is doing everything that needs to be done… Industry also needs to move forward. In a week, at least 10,000 BTS’s should be enabled for 5G… from the current 2,500 BTS’s per week,” the Minister said.

Mr. Vaishnaw also announced a slew of policy reforms for satellite communications services, that will help ease procedures and streamline clearances, with an aim to quicken the introduction of these services across the country, especially in remote areas.

The Minister added that as part of the wireless licensing reforms, the entire process of telecom tower clearance (SACFA- Standing Advisory Committee on Frequency Allocation) had been made online and clearances were being generated on a self-declaration basis.

For faster 5G roll-out, simple registration-based clearance had been introduced for deployment of micro cells on street furniture

.Additionally, import process of telecom equipment had also been made simpler for faster deployment of networks.

The charges for satellite telephony service have been rationalised further with the objective of connecting the people in remote and inaccessible locations. All the old physical forms of the records/licenses/clearances have been digitised and migrated to Saralsanchar portal. Majority of the licences are now on auto renewal mode.

The Minister highlighted that these changes were aimed at encouraging ease-of-doing-business by limiting multiplicity of charges at different stages of rolling out satellite-based communication services.