Arunachal: 1683 villages along Indo-China border to be covered with 4G services

In a welcoming move, the department of telecommunication has confirmed that 1683 villages in Arunachal Pradesh will be covered with 4G services by December 2023 along with this Tawang which is situated along the China border will also get a boost in network connectivity. 

Notably, the Additional Secretary to Govt of India, Ministry of Communication VL Kantha Rao along with Dy Director General, Universal Service Obligation fund (USOF) cum Jt. Secretary Sunil Kumar Verma took a meeting with the telecom service providers, Airtel and BSNL in the conference hall of the DC office in Tawang. 

The meeting was also attended by the Head of offices and representatives from army and para-military forces.

Speaking on the occasion, Addl Secretary cum Administrator of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) informed that the fund collected from telecom service providers under USOF is used to cater telecom services to the remote villages of the country, and this tour to Arunachal Pradesh is to physically inspect and ensure that the projects taken up in the state are being implemented properly. 

He further informed that 1683 villages in Arunachal Pradesh state will be covered with 4G services by December 2023.

He asked for support and cooperation from the state govt, paramilitary and armed forces to properly implement the projects in identifying patches of land, movement of people, and providing electricity connections to achieve the target of connecting all villages with a 4G network by December 2023. 

Earlier the addl Secretary visited some of the border outposts not connected with mobile network facilities and interacted with personnel.

Deputy Commissioner, Tawang Kesang Ngurup Damo in his welcome address gave brief information on the poor network connectivity of the district while during open discussion representatives of paramilitary forces, NGOs and student union members also raised the poor network issue with the service providers.