Parliament Question: Expansion of 5G services

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1446 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12TH FEBRUARY, 2026 EXPANSION OF 5G SERVICES 1446 # SHRI DEEPAK PRAKASH: SHRI MITHLESH KUMAR: DR. DINESH SHARMA: SHRI MAYANKKUMAR NAYAK: DR. ANIL SUKHDEORAO BONDE: SHRI BABURAM NISHAD: SHRI KESRIDEVSINH JHALA: SMT. RAMILABEN BECHARBHAI BARA: SHRI NARAYANA KORAGAPPA: DR. MEDHA VISHRAM KULKARNI: DR. BHAGWAT KARAD: SHRI CHUNNILAL GARASIYA: Will the Minister of Communications be pleased to state: (a) the number of districts and Gram Panchayats brought under 5G services during the last one year; (b) the manner in which actual download speeds and call drop rates have been assessed through field-level drive tests; (c) whether coverage gaps still persist on highways, railway corridors and in rural clusters; (d) if so, the details thereof; (e) the punitive or corrective directives issued against Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for non- compliance; and (f) the roadmap laid out for transitioning from nominal 5G to full-capacity 5G? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR) (a) 5G services have been rolled out in all States/ UTs across the country and presently it is available in 99.9% of the districts in the country. As on 31.12.2025, Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have installed 5.18 Lakhs 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) across the country, including 53,864 Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) during the period from 01.01.2025 to 31.12.2025. Further, Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have installed 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) in 1.12 Lakh villages across the country by 31.12.2025. 1(b) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) conducts Independent Drive Test (IDT) across the country. TRAI also conducts Operator Assisted Drive Test (OADT) with assistance from Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). Both the IDT and OADT reports are published on TRAI website on regular basis. (c) & (d) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mandated every service provider to publish on its website the service wise geospatial coverage maps for the geographical areas where wireless voice or wireless broadband service is available for subscription by consumers. Accordingly, the service providers have published service wise geospatial coverage maps on their website. (e) TRAI monitors the performance of service providers against the benchmark of various Quality of Service (QoS) parameters, as prescribed in its QoS Regulations by collecting License Service Area (LSA) wise Performance Monitoring Report (PMR) from service providers on regular basis. The Performance Monitoring Report (PMR) are published on TRAI website. Wherever the Quality-of-Service benchmarks are not met, financial disincentive are imposed on service provider after seeking their explanation and considering their response for non-complied QoS parameters as per the provision of the QoS Regulations. (f) The 5G services have been rolled out by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) as per the international standards in place. ***** 2