5G services have been rolled out across 329 cities spread across all licensed service areas, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Population-scale solutions are being tested on Indian 4G/5G indigenous stacks across the platforms such as healthcare, agriculture, smart manufacturing, education, gaming, and drones, Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

“5G services have been rolled out in 329 cities distributed across all Licensed Service Areas (LSAs),” Chauhan pointed out, according to a PTI report.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha website’s Telecom Ministry section listed out more details handed out by Chauhan to parliament.

Listing some of the steps taken by the government to help telcos roll out 5G services, Chauhan said additional spectrum has been made available, while spectrum sharing, trading, leasing and surrender have been permitted as per extant Notice Inviting Application (NIA) terms and conditions and guidelines issued from time to time.

He added that to facilitate faster and easier deployment of telecom infrastructure, the government has amended the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules (RoW), 2016 in August 2022. These amendments pave the way for deployment of 5G small cells and optical fibre cable on existing street infrastructure and also rationalize the fees and charges paid by the telecom licensees for the RoW permissions.