The survey revealed that in addition to expanding the telecom infrastructure, a number of reforms have been undertaken. It outlines the structural and procedural reforms implemented in India’s telecom sector, which is the second-largest telecommunications market in the world.
“The reforms are also anticipated to boost 4G proliferation. Infuse liquidity. Create an enabling climate for investment in 5G network networks.” it said.
A strong and responsive regulatory system has maintained service access at reasonable costs. The government took further steps to ensure fair competition among service providers to the benefit of consumers.
The survey found that telecom is one of the most influential sectors in a country’s economic and social development.
This is also reflected in key metrics like growth in total phone subscriber base, steady rise in internet subscribers, broadband connections, and other key metrics.
India’s telecom sector has become data-driven over the past few decades, as a result of a reduction in data costs due to fierce competition. This has further boosted data usage.
One example is the average wireless data usage per data user per monthly of 14.1 GB in Q1 FY22. This compares to just 1.24 Gb per month in Q1 Fiscal18.
The number of mobile towers has increased substantially to 6.93 lakhs towers by December 2021. This “reflects that the telecom operators have well realized the potential in this sector and seized the opportunity for building up an infrastructure that will be essential in supporting the government’s Digital India campaign”.
It stated that the BharatNet flagship project had laid 5.46 million km of optical fiber cable, and that 1.73 lakh Gram Panchayats, or GP, have been connected to Optical Fiber Cables (OFC). 1.59 lakh Gram Panchayats can be service-ready with OFC as of September 27, 2020.
The aspirational District scheme will also give a boost to the telecom infrastructure, while the focus on submarine optical fibre cable infrastructure will encourage high-speed internet access and broadband connectivity.
