New Delhi: The Union government has established 100 5G laboratories at academic institutions nationwide to develop socioeconomic use cases and build a 6G-ready ecosystem, Union Minister of State for Communications Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

In a written reply, Dr Chandra Sekhar said 5G networks have been rolled out by telecom service providers in all states and union territories, with services now available in 99.9 per cent of districts across the country.

As of October 31, 2025, over 5.08 lakh 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) have been installed, supporting faster internet for applications including precision agriculture, remote education, and telemedicine.
The government has launched the GatiShakti Sanchar portal and Right of Way (RoW) Rules to streamline permissions and clearances for telecom infrastructure installation.

Key initiatives for 5G proliferation include the 2022 spectrum auction, financial reforms rationalizing Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) and bank guarantees, removal of Spectrum Usage Charges for spectrum acquired from 2022 onwards, and simplified SACFA (Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocations) clearance procedures.

The government has also enabled time-bound permissions for using street furniture for installing small cells and telecommunication lines, facilitating rapid network expansion across urban and rural areas.

The 5G labs aim to foster innovation and capacity building among startups and academia.