NEW DELHI: Many parts of the country will not be able to avail the 5G services in 2022, as Telecom Service Providers could only connect 7,93,551 towers by optical fibre in the country.

Telecom operators have to fiberise 2.3 million Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) installed on mobile towers to cover the entire population.

“Telecom Service Providers fiberise their Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) installed on mobile towers and 7,93,551 BTSs have been connected by optical fibre in the country as on 1 February 2022,” informed Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Lok Sabha.

The telecom ministry is hopeful to launch the 5G services in the country before 15 August 2022.

However, for rolling out the proper 5G services in the country, fiberisation of mobile networks is essential. But telecom service providers could only fiberise 34% of the tower with optical fibre.

The major obstacle in fiberisation of telecom towers are high charges, complex process and delay involved in getting Right of Way (RoW) permissions due to non-alignment of ROW Policy of States with Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 notified by the Central Government.

The government said it is facilitating the telcos for laying optical fibre by means of addressing RoW challenges and creating a collaborative institutional mechanism between Centre, States and Local Bodies for Common Right of Way, standardisation of costs and timelines for approval, and removal of barriers for grant of approvals.