The Government will spend Rs 20,000 crore to provide mobile connectivity in 55,000 villages, which are still untouched by wireless telephony, in the next five years, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the first meeting of the Centre and States to deliberate on various initiatives under the Digital India programme, Garg said in the first three years the Government will provide mobile connectivity to half of these villages."It is very important to provide mobile connectivity in all the villages. We will connect up to 55,000 villages, which do not have such a service in the next 5 years and Rs 20,000 crore has been earmarked for this," he said.