Independence Day 2023: India Working On 6G Launch, ‘Task Force’ Created, Claims PM Modi – News18

PM Modi says that India has made a 6G task force.

PM Modi said on India’s 77th Independence Day that the nation is actively working on 6G and highlighted the fast 5G rollout.


Celebrating India’s 77th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the stage at New Delhi’s Red Fort to reflect upon India’s progress in recent years. He highlighted India’s journey from being on the path to becoming the world’s third-largest economy to providing some of the most affordable mobile data and internet services worldwide.

Prime Minister Modi said that India has achieved the fastest nationwide rollout of 5G—with 700 districts already benefiting from the country’s 5G infrastructure. Further, he announced India is already working on launching 6G, stating, “We have formed a 6G task force,” during his speech this morning at the Red Fort.

During the last year’s launch of 5G services at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi said that “130 crore Indians are receiving a remarkable gift in the form of 5G, courtesy of both the nation and its telecom industry.” He further said that “5G is the beginning of an infinite sky of opportunities.”

For those unfamiliar, India’s 5G spectrum auction kicked off in July last year. Major carriers such as Jio, Vodafone-Idea, Airtel, and Adani bidded—resulting in a record-breaking bid totaling Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Reliance Jio—led by Mukesh Ambani—secured the highest bid at Rs 88,078 crore, followed by Airtel with a bid of Rs 43,084 crore.

Notably, India’s 5G coverage has expanded to even the most remote corners of the nation—covering sacred sites like the Char Dham temples in Uttarakhand. In April of this year, Reliance Jio announced that Jio True 5G customers can access the Jio 5G network while journeying to the Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri dhams.

In addition to these developments, Ericsson Mobility’s June report revealed that India had amassed around 10 million 5G subscriptions by the close of 2022, and predicted this number will expand to encompass 57 percent of all mobile subscriptions in the country by the end of 2028, making India the “fastest growing” 5G region globally.