Government Commits To Universal 4G In Villages And Faster 5G Rollout

13 Feb 2026 CW Team

Minister of State Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said India is approaching universal four G coverage of villages and is seeing a rapid five G rollout. He reported that of nearly 640,000 villages about 631,000 have four G services and the remaining 10,000 are being connected under saturation projects in coming months. He noted that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has deployed 100,000 indigenous towers and that about 500,000 villages have five G service.

Between April 2022 and March 2025 the department laid 850,284 route kilometres of optical fibre cable, bringing cumulative fibre length to 4,253,334 kilometres. Average mobile broadband download speed rose from 13.67 Mbps in March 2022 to 132.00 Mbps in December 2025 according to global indices, while regulatory data recorded latency under 75 milliseconds and cumulative downtime within two per cent. The number of four G and five G base transceiver stations rose from 1,691,304 to 2,559,704, reflecting a 51.33 per cent increase in network readiness.

Expanded backhaul and last mile infrastructure supported growth in digital services, with over 1,430 million (mn) Aadhaar numbers issued and more than 650.1 mn DigiLocker users, while the UMANG platform has recorded over 7,264.3 mn transactions. As of 31 December 2025 some 214,904 Gram Panchayats were service ready under BharatNet and around 634,955 of 644,131 villages have mobile connectivity, including 631,834 with four G, equivalent to 98.09 per cent coverage. Around 0.587 mn Common Service Centres were functional, of which 0.457 mn were at the Gram Panchayat level, and the rural digital literacy drive has reached 63.9 mn individuals.

Union Minister for Communications and Development of the North Eastern Region Jyotiraditya Scindia said the government is committed to extending digital connectivity to the remotest parts under the Vibrant Village Programme. He said the ministry is coordinating with state authorities and members of Parliament to resolve environmental, wildlife and right of way constraints that affect tower installation and fibre laying. Scindia highlighted Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh as an example of areas being prioritised. Minister of State Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said India is approaching universal four G coverage of villages and is seeing a rapid five G rollout. He reported that of nearly 640,000 villages about 631,000 have four G services and the remaining 10,000 are being connected under saturation projects in coming months. He noted that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has deployed 100,000 indigenous towers and that about 500,000 villages have five G service. Between April 2022 and March 2025 the department laid 850,284 route kilometres of optical fibre cable, bringing cumulative fibre length to 4,253,334 kilometres. Average mobile broadband download speed rose from 13.67 Mbps in March 2022 to 132.00 Mbps in December 2025 according to global indices, while regulatory data recorded latency under 75 milliseconds and cumulative downtime within two per cent. The number of four G and five G base transceiver stations rose from 1,691,304 to 2,559,704, reflecting a 51.33 per cent increase in network readiness. Expanded backhaul and last mile infrastructure supported growth in digital services, with over 1,430 million (mn) Aadhaar numbers issued and more than 650.1 mn DigiLocker users, while the UMANG platform has recorded over 7,264.3 mn transactions. As of 31 December 2025 some 214,904 Gram Panchayats were service ready under BharatNet and around 634,955 of 644,131 villages have mobile connectivity, including 631,834 with four G, equivalent to 98.09 per cent coverage. Around 0.587 mn Common Service Centres were functional, of which 0.457 mn were at the Gram Panchayat level, and the rural digital literacy drive has reached 63.9 mn individuals.

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