The Indian telecom industry has erected five lakh additional mobile towers in the last two years between November 2016 and October this year, taking the total number of base transceiver stations (BTSs) to over 20 lakh.

The telecom industry has also been closely working with the government in building a well-entrenched communication infrastructure and till date has invested ₹10.44 lakh crore, said the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) in a release on Thursday.

The data also showed that Maharashtra has the maximum number of BTS units (1.63 lakh) followed by Andhra Pradesh (1.49 lakh) and Karnataka (1.41 lakh).

Direct impact

“The significant enhancement of the national telecom infrastructure with growth in the number of BTSs will directly impact connectivity across the country. Today, the country is at the cusp of a digital revolution, in line with the government‘s Digital India and smart cities programmes,” Rajan S Mathews, Director General, COAI, said.

The growth in the number of 3G and 4G BTS units testifies to the increasing demand for quality and speed of data and network, he said.

To increase adoption of new and advanced form of communication technologies and to implement the targets of the National Digital Communications Policy, there is a need for Centre and States to give right of way permissions for towers in a more supportive and timely manner for enhanced infrastructure and connectivity, Mathews added.

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