Telecom reforms to spur liquidity, create enabling environment for 5G investments: Economic Survey

A strong and responsive regulatory framework has kept service access at reasonable prices, the survey stated

Expansion of telecom infrastructure and introduction of reforms will boost 4G proliferation and help to create a good environment for investment in 5G networks, according to Economic Survey 2021-22.

The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Monday said that in the last few years, the telecom sector in India has become data-driven following reduced costs of data due to the fierce competition in the sector. This has boosted data usage further. A case in point is the average wireless data usage in a gigabyte (GB) per data user per month that has increased "tremendously" to a whopping 14.1 GB per month in Q1 FY22, from just 1.24 GB per month in Q1 FY18.

The number of mobile towers has risen substantially to reach levels of 6.93 lakhs towers in December 2021, "reflecting that the telecom operators have well realised the potential in the sector and seized the opportunity to build up an infrastructure that will be fundamental in boosting the government’s Digital India campaign".

Also read: Here are key highlights of Economic Survey 2021-22

Listing out the progress on the connectivity front, it said that under the flagship BharatNet project, 5.46 lakh km optical fibre cable has been laid, a total of 1.73 lakh Gram Panchayats (GP) have been connected by Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) and 1.59 lakh Gram Panchayats are service-ready on OFC, as of September 27, 2021.

Noting reforms undertaken in the Indian telecom sector, the Survey said "The reforms are also expected to boost 4G proliferation, infuse liquidity and create an enabling environment for investment in 5G networks," it added. A strong and responsive regulatory framework has kept service access at reasonable prices, with the government taking further measures to ensure fair competition among service providers with the view to benefit the consumers, said the survey.

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