Parliament Question: 4G and 5G Connectivity in Rural Remote and Border Areas

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4223 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2026 4G AND 5G CONNECTIVITY IN RURAL REMOTE AND BORDER AREAS †4223. SHRI KULDEEP INDORA: Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state: (a) the specific steps been taken by the Government to improve mobile and internet connectivity in rural and border areas; (b) whether the Government has conducted any study regarding the availability and quality of 4G and 5G connectivity in such rural and remote border areas; (c) if so, the details thereof in respect of the border areas of Rajasthan, including the Ganganagar- Hanumangarh Lok Sabha constituency; (d) whether the Government is working on any action plan to improve 4G and 5G connectivity in the rural and border areas of the said Lok Sabha Constituency; (e) if so, the details thereof; and (f) the number of Gram Panchayats/villages in the said Lok Sabha Constituency currently lacking 4G and 5G mobile network coverage and the various measures being taken to connect such Panchayats/villages with high-speed mobile internet connectivity? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR) (a) The Government has approved various projects through Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), to provide 4G mobile connectivity in uncovered villages across the country including rural and border areas. Further, Government has implemented the BharatNet project in phases to provide broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs). Government has also approved the Amended BharatNet Program (ABP) to provide ring-based connectivity to approximately 2.64 lakh GPs and connectivity to 3.80 lakh non-GP villages on demand basis. (b) & (c) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) monitors the performance of telecom service providers against the benchmark for various quality of service parameters by collecting performance monitoring reports from the service providers on regular basis, operator assisted drive tests and independent drive tests. The reports are published on TRAI website (https://trai.gov.in/). (d) to (f) 5G mobile services are rolled out by the telecom service providers themselves on techno-commercial consideration. In the Hanumangarh and Sri Ganganagar districts of Rajasthan, under the DBN funded mobile project, 171 out of 188 planned towers are brought on-air, providing 4G mobile coverage to 201 remote and border villages across both districts. 13 of the total 4,933 villages (as per data of Registrar General of India of November 2019) of Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts are uncovered with 4G/5G mobile connectivity. ***** 1