Cellphone connectivity extended to over 95% of rural India: MoS Communication Chauhan

The number of BTSs (Base Transceiver Stations) have increased from 6.49 lakh in March 2014 to 25.42 Lakh in March-2023,  MoS for Communication Devusinh Chauhan said on Wednesday. He also informed the Parliament that the telecom connectivity in India has improved significantly in the last 10 years. 

“Total mobile subscribers have increased from 90.45 crore in March 2014 to 114.84 crore in August 2023,” Chauhan added, while replying to a question in the Lok Sabha. According to his reply, Internet subscribers have increased from 25.15 crore in March 2014 to 88.12 crore in March 2023.

The Minister informed about the progress on telecom connectivity in India. As of September 2023, out of 6,44,131 villages in the country, around 6,16,300 villages are covered with mobile connectivity at a coverage of 95.7 per cent, Chauhan said. He also threw light on the number of the schemes rolled out by the government to provide telecom connectivity to some of the uncovered villages in the country. “Government has planned 41,160 towers in uncovered areas of the country to provide connectivity to more than 54,000 villages at the cost of more than Rs 41,331 crore,” Chauhan added further. 
 

He also said that India has seen one of the fastest roll out of 5G services in the world with around 3.99 lakh BTSs deployed in around 738 districts including Aurangabad and Rohtas districts of Bihar