Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced Friday that Indian telecom services are now among the top three globally, noting that significant efforts are underway to improve them further.
Enhancing quality of service
The Minister highlighted the implementation of stricter norms for monitoring the Quality of Service (QoS), which began on October 1. He stated, "It will not be an exaggeration to say that Indian telecom services are among top 3 nations and our efforts are on to improve them further".
This change means the telecom regulator, TRAI, has shifted from measuring QoS at the circle level to the more granular cell level. According to Scindia, telecom operators have already submitted their initial reports based on these new norms. Discussions are now ongoing to resolve issues where the quality of service does not meet the prescribed benchmark.
Spectrum and connectivity initiatives
The government has also taken a major step to improve Wi-Fi proliferation by de-licensing the lower frequency range in the 6 GHz band spectrum. This move eliminates the need for companies to pay for using certain frequencies in the 6 GHz band, which are crucial for supporting ultra-low latency, higher speeds, and lower costs for digital services.
In addition, the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) is currently reviewing Spectrum Refarming 2.0 to meet the growing demands of the telecom sector. Scindia detailed the progress: "Close to 687 MHz from defence and other sectors has been given to the telecom sector under the re-farm umbrella." He noted that while the sector requires 2,000 MHz by 2030, they have currently secured 1,587 MHz (900 MHz + 687 MHz) and the CoS is focused on securing the remaining 432 MHz.
Regarding new technologies, the rollout of Satcom services is currently in progress and will be finalised once the Department of Telecom receives necessary clarifications from TRAI regarding its recommendations.
Accelerating network rollout and addressing gaps
The Minister affirmed that the government has accelerated processes to resolve challenges related to telecom network rollout across the country. He noted substantial success: "Out of 2,415 issues from February till today, we have completed 1,882 issues. Almost 86 percent of the pain points have been resolved." He added that they are actively working with state governments to address the remaining 533 pending issues.
Finally, in response to a GSMA report claiming that only 47 percent of Indians are connected, Scindia clarified that the report focuses on individuals not using smartphones. He expressed optimism that the increasing availability of low-cost handsets from various mobile phone companies will gradually help close this connectivity gap.
