The Union government has approved 4G mobile services for more than 1,100 border outposts along India’s international borders, including the border with China border, at a cost of ₹1,545.66 crore, the year-end review of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.
The MHA said that a tripartite agreement has been signed among the Department of Telecommunications, the MHA, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to execute the project over the next six-and-a-half years. It will cover 1,117 border outposts and intelligence posts of the armed forces and the Intelligence Bureau.
This year, however, out of 379 villages and hamlets approved under the 4G saturation project for the Union Territory of Ladakh, mobile phone towers have been established at only nine sites, with the foundation work completed at 34 sites. Since 2020, India and China have been enagaged in a stand-off at multiple locations along the undemarcated Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
