5G Covers 99.87% Districts, Govt Reaffirms Telecom Push

The government remains committed to providing universal, high-quality telecom services across India, Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia told the Rajya Sabha, citing rapid expansion of 5G networks and stricter monitoring of service quality standards.

In a written reply on Thursday, Scindia said telecom service performance is regularly evaluated against Quality of Service (QoS) benchmarks set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). These benchmarks cover key indicators such as call drop rates, packet loss, network availability and service downtime to ensure reliable connectivity for consumers.

The minister noted that TRAI has recently tightened QoS norms and introduced a phased glide path to align Indian standards with global benchmarks. Telecom service providers submit compliance data, which is published monthly in the public domain to ensure transparency and accountability.

Referring to the TRAI report for December 2025, Scindia said all telecom operators met the prescribed QoS benchmarks for network-related parameters in the Maharashtra Licensed Service Area. In Pune district, operators were compliant across both 4G and 5G networks.

Addressing concerns about local connectivity, Scindia said no call-drop complaints were reported from Hinjewadi and Baramati during 2025–26. Only a small number of network-related complaints were registered—three in Hinjewadi and one in Baramati. An independent drive test conducted by TRAI in Hinjewadi in September 2025 also confirmed that all operators met QoS standards.

On 5G expansion, the minister said telecom operators have exceeded minimum rollout obligations since the launch of 5G services by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 1, 2022. Currently, 5G services are available in 776 out of 777 districts, covering 99.87 per cent of the country.

More than 5.18 lakh 5G Base Transceiver Stations have been installed nationwide, with about 38 crore wireless data subscribers using 5G services, making India one of the fastest adopters of the technology globally. As of December 31, 2025, Maharashtra had 54,261 5G BTSs, including 1,094 in Baramati and 8,260 in Pune district.

Scindia said policy measures such as spectrum auctions, financial reforms, simplified clearances and streamlined right-of-way permissions are strengthening telecom infrastructure and improving service quality nationwide.