While the government is banking on the telecom sector to usher in its digital initiatives, riding on its reach to every nook and corner of the country, various network and connectivity issues continue to plague the sector.

If these are not addressed on a war-footing, they could derail the Centre’s ambitious ‘Digital India’ project.

Setting up telecom towers is one of the main requirements to provide broadband and voice services across the country. At present, there are about 5 lakh cell towers, which is very much on the lower side.

In the last 18 months, only 16,000 towers have been added, while the actual addition — to support the growing number of connections — should have been at least 50,000-60,000 towers.

“As optical fibre will only be relevant for backhaul and considering that it is time-consuming to lay the networks in regions like the North East and Jammu & Kashmir, microwave is the best mode to provide last-mile connectivity,” said Rajan S Mathews, Director-General of GSM operators’ body Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI).

“Construction of cell towers will be a critical component of success, and at present we need a common policy across the country for setting up towers. Additionally, a clear roadmap for adequate spectrum and a single fee structure are needed,” said Mathews.

When it comes to telecom connectivity, rural India still lags. As of April 30, 2015, total tele-density (telephones per 100 people) was just 48.37 in the rural sector, nearly one-third of the 149.13 in urban areas, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

“One of the major initiatives needed by telecom operators is to enable last-mile connectivity across rural India to provide basic connectivity. This is needed to provide basic voice and broadband services, and a good user experience,” said Rishi Tejpal, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner.

“Apart from the user experience, relevant mobile content and applications are necessary for improving connectivity. Further, telcos and the government should look at bringing in affordable devices to improve services in the rural segment,” Tejpal added.

Low ranking

Compared with other nations, India has low spectrum per million customers.

“This affects the quality of services in the country, which is the second largest telecom market in the world,” said Hemant Joshi, Partner at Deloitte Haskins & Sells.

According to Chris Houghton, Head of India Region, Ericsson energy and utilities, the transport and automobile, and safety and security industries will benefit most from a networked society.

“There is a common need for ICT solutions within these industries and our endeavour will be to address these needs,” Houghton added.

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