All Odisha Towns To Get 5G By December This Year, Over 1,800 Villages To Get 4G As Well: Official

A total of 1,814 villages in the state will be covered by 4G services at an approximate cost of Rs 2,000 crore.

5G smartphone sales spurted by 74 per cent in 2022.

All urban areas in Odisha will get 5G connectivity by December, while 1,814 villages will get 4G network by that time, an official said on Wednesday. In Odisha, 5G connectivity was launched on January 5 with services in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar through 510 BTSs (base terminal stations), Department of Telecom's deputy director-general BK Nayak said, adding that at present, 13 districts are being served with 5G services by Reliance Jio and nine districts by Airtel.

"It is in the rollout phase now to cover all major cities by March 2023, and all cities and towns by December 2023," he said.

Total 1,814 villages in the state will be covered by 4G services at an approximate cost of Rs 2,000 crore with a target to complete the project by December, Nayak said.

The project is being implemented by BSNL, he said.

So far, 42,425 villages have 2G, 3G and 4G services with 25,115 towers. The state has 3.32 crore subscribers, he said.

The telecom density in the state was 80 per cent against the national average of 85 per cent. "There are 7,113 villages without 4G service," Nayak said.

In Naxalism-hit areas, 483 4G towers were being set up in nine districts at a sanctioned cost of Rs 422 crores and the project is being implemented by Reliance Jio, he said.

The project will be completed by March next year and already 102 towers are in place, he added. 

Meanwhile, a recent study by CyberMedia Research revealed that shipments of 5G smartphones spurted by 74 per cent in 2022 even as overall mobile phone shipments declined by 8 per cent in the year. Xiaomi led the overall smartphone market with a 21 per cent market share while Samsung led in the shipment of 5G smartphones with a 23 per cent market share.

Driven by a resilient consumer appetite to switch and upgrade, the premium smartphone market continued to gain traction, the report said.

In fact, the uber-premium smartphone segment (over Rs 1 lakh) grew a whopping over 95 per cent year-over-year.

The overall smartphone market continued to post a decline, driven by the tough market conditions in the second half of 2022, CMR, Analyst- Industry Intelligence Group, Menka Kumari said.

(With inputs from Agencies)