Indian Government-owned telco BSNL intends to install about 1.12 lakh (112,000) towers across the country ahead of the indigenous 4G telecom network rollout throughout India, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha about the development on Wednesday.

The Minister also said the internet connection inside trains can be available only when the 5G network will be rolled out as communications get disrupted with 4G technology in trains running at the speed of 100 km per hour.

“I am happy to inform you that the 4G telecom network is ready for roll out soon and it is developed in India by Indian engineers and scientists. Our development of 4G network is being appreciated worldwide and it has a core network, radio network with full telecom equipment,” PTI reported from New Delhi.

The minister said the BSNL is in the process of ordering 6,000 towers immediately and then 6,000 more, and finally 1 lakh (100,000) to be installed all over the country for the 4G network.

He said the development of 5G technology is going on in parallel and will be ready in a few months.

Vaishnaw said the telecom service providers fiberize their base transceiver stations (BTSs) installed on mobile towers and 7,93,551 BTSs have been connected by optical fiber in the country as of February 1, 2022.