Telecom operators have committed to invest Rs 20,000 crore to install 1 lakh towers within a year, in a bid to curb the rising call drop issue.
“Telecom operators have installed 48,000 towers in last 45 days, out of 60,000 towers they promised to install in 100 days,” Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha told reporters after a meeting with them.
This was second meeting between the government and the operators on the call drop issue. At the first meeting with Telecom Secretary JS Deepak in June, a 100-day plan was chalked out.
The government is gearing up for the largest spectrum auction, estimated to be worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore, wherein as much as 2300 megahertz of radiowaves will be put up for sale across frequency bands.
Telecom operators have also sought the opening up of new frequency bands —— 71—76 gigahertz (GHz) and 50 GHz. Wireless services deployed in these bands are considered to deliver broadband speed of up to 1 gigabit per second as in case of optical fibres.
