By Apoorva Shukla

Copyright timesnownews

In a major boost to tele-communication infrastructure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated BSNL’s ‘Swadeshi’ 4G stack. This marks India’s entry into a coveted league of nations that manufacture telecom equipment. The launch of the ‘Swadeshi’ 4G stack by PM Modi marked India’s entry into a league of nations such as Denmark, Sweden, South Korea, and China, which manufacture homegrown telecom equipment. “India is now among the five countries in the world, which possess indigenous technology to launch 4G telecom services,” said PM Modi. “It is because of BSNL that India is moving towards becoming a global telecom manufacturing hub. Swadeshi 4G network begins today from here, as part of which, 1 lakh 4G mobile towers have been set up across the country… Border districts and far-fetched villages, where high-speed internet and connectivity were an issue, will greatly benefit from this… Our soldiers will also be able to use safe indigenous services for connectivity…” he said. The rollout of the ‘swadeshi’ 4G network is a transformative step in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of a Digital India, bridging the digital divide and empowering rural communities, while paving the way for BSNL’s 5G upgrade and integration, an official statement said, as reported by PTI. PM Modi also commissioned more than 97,500 mobile 4G towers, including 92,600 4G technology sites of the telecom service provide on the occasion of BSNL’s Silver Jubliee. These towers have been built at a cost of around Rs 37,000 crore with ‘swadeshi’ (indigenous) technology. These towers would connect 26,700 villages, including 2,472 of Odisha, in remote, border and left-wing extremism-affected areas and will serve over 20 lakh new subscribers. Apart from this, the Prime Minister also unveiled India’s 100 per cent 4G saturation network through digital Bharat Nidhi, where 29,000 to 30,000 villages are connected in a mission-mode project. On the launch, Union Communication Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that India has become the fifth country in the world to manufacture telecom equipment. He said India’s image has transformed from being a services and consumer nation to a hub of production, innovation, entrepreneurship and exports. “Earlier, India was a service nation, but now we are a producer nation. Earlier, we were seen as a consumer nation, but today, we are an innovation, entrepreneurship and exports centre,” the minister said. For all the latest news and india news, visit Times Now to get live updates and breaking news around the world.