Arunachal: Central officers said at a meeting on Tuesday that more than 1,680 villages in Arunachal Pradesh will have 4G telecom services by December 2023. V L Kantha Rao, additional secretary to the Union Ministry of Communication, and Sunil Kumar Verma, Deputy Director-General of the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and Joint Secretary, met with telecom service providers, heads of offices, and representatives from the Army and paramilitary forces.
The telecom service providers were BSNL and Airtel.
Previously, the additional Secretary visited some border outposts that were not connected to mobile network facilities and interacted with personnel.
Joint Secretary Sunil Kumar Verma stated that the USOF funds collected from telecom service providers are used to provide services to the country’s remote villages, and their tour is to physically inspect and ensure that the projects undertaken in the state are properly implemented.
He stated that 1,683 villages in Arunachal Pradesh will be covered by 4G services by December 2023, and he requested the support of the state government and the armed forces to carry out the projects by identifying land, facilitating people movement, and providing electricity connections to meet this goal.
During an open discussion with representatives from the security forces, NGOs, and student unions, Tawang Deputy Commissioner Kesang Ngurup Damo mentioned the district’s poor telecom connectivity.
In 2021, Pema Khandu, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the ambitious Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan, which aims to provide 4G mobile connectivity to 1683 remote villages in Arunachal Pradesh by 2022.
He believes that this will bring about a positive change in people’s lives by providing them with much-needed digital empowerment. Speaking on the occasion of the 35th Statehood Day, Khandu stated that the last two years were a difficult year due to the intense hardships and unpredictability posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges, our government has launched a slew of initiatives on a variety of fronts in order to build a strong and self-sufficient Arunachal Pradesh.
