New Delhi: The Union Government on Friday informed the Rajya Sabha that 5G services will be launched in the country by the end of this year adding that spectrum auctions will also be held very soon. Replying to a supplementary question during the Question Hour, Minister of State (MoS), Communications Devusinh Chauhan said that the Union government has allotted a spectrum to four companies for trial. He also said that trials are expected to be completed soon.
"We will conduct auctions very soon. By the end of this year, we will start 5G services in the country," the Minister said. He also said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been asked to give recommendations regarding the auction. Chauhan said Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will start providing 4G services this year. Claiming that a "great revolution" has taken place in the telecom sector over the last seven years, the Minister said that data consumption has skyrocketed while tariffs are at the lowest.
He also said that there is a robust public grievance mechanism in place and complaints pending for over 48 hours are forwarded to senior officials. The Minister said that the Union Government has taken several measures to revive telecom PSUs BSNL and MTNL adding the quality of BSNL's service will improve with the launch of the state-owned corporation's 4G services.
Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply stated that there is no decline in the number of mobile subscribers in the country in 2020-21." As per the monthly Telecom Subscription Data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of Mobile Subscribers in India increased from 1157.75 million in March 2020 to 1180.96 million in March 2021," he added.
(With agency inputs)
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