India’s indigenously developed 4G stack is ready: Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia

Jyotiraditya Scindia

Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said India’s indigenously developed 4G stack is ready and will offer quality at the international level to subscribers and reiterated the government’s stance that India will always need at least three telecom players.

Scindia, who was speaking at the News18 India Chaupal event, added that  BSNL will deploy one lakh 4G towers to offer new quality service to its subscribers.

“The 4G stack is ready, and all four core networks are functional. By mid-next year, BSNL will deploy one lakh 4G towers to offer new quality service to its subscribers,” he said.

Scindia said the government has taken around two years to develop this indigenous telecom technology.

He then went on to say that there ought to be at least three players in the telecom space. The minister said, "Internationally, there are even fewer players than that in some markets. India is so vast with so many subscribers we need to have at least three players, and BSNL has a role in it. BSNL has pledged, under PM Modi's guidance, to develop Indigenous 4G technology. This technology will make India self-reliant and allow us to offer international quality services to subscribers."

He commended other private telecom operators for undertaking the world’s fastest 5G rollout in just 21 months and pointed out that telcos invested Rs 4.5 lakh crores in the rollout over the last three years, adding that there has to be a return on investment for such a significant investment.

“...98% of India is covered with 5G technology. For the 5G rollout, 4.5 lakh crores have been invested in the last three years. In every industry, if there is investment, there has to be a return on investment. Rs 4.5 lakh crore is not a small amount to deploy the networks,” he added.

The minister said India’s telecom tariffs are still the lowest in the world despite recent tariff hikes by private operators.

“In 2014, the per-minute voice tariff was 50 paise, which is now three paise per minute; there has been a 95% reduction in the last ten years. 1 GB data used to be Rs 285 in 2014… it is now Rs 9.85. There is a 90% reduction. At the global stage, SMS of 2GB data and voice service pack is priced at $9 in neighbouring countries, $12-15 in European countries and $20 in the United States, while it is $1.5 in India,” he added.