Telecommunication issues and concerns of the Ladakh region was reviewed by R K Mathur, Lieutenant Governor UT Ladakh on February 21 at New Delhi.

Umang Narula, Advisor to LG, UT Ladakh, officers and representatives of concerned departments and telecom operators were present.

R K Mathur spoke about the challenges being faced by the administration of Ladakh in absence of communication facilities in most parts of the region.  Also, he outlined that the satellite phone services are not a tenable solution to the poor voice and data services. 

The telecom operators were asked to give their inputs on the possible ways to mitigate the problems related to communication and connectivity in Ladakh. He further urged the Department of Telecom to include all villages in their survey and work on providing coverage. While habited areas are being covered, R K Mathur said that there is a necessity to cover uninhabited areas of Ladakh, since  it is important from  the tourism and security point of view.

Umang Narula said that the connectivity issue is not limited to the Ladakh region alone but is spread over the whole route to Ladakh since both the highways connecting Ladakh to the rest of India largely remain bereft of connectivity.

Officers/representatives of Department of Telecom, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Jio, Vindhya Telelinks Ltd. (VTL), Bharat Broadband Network Ltd. (BBNL), and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL) gave their concerns, suggestions, and recommendations based on pricing, permissions related issues, maintenance, Fiber to Home broadband, Raman amplifiers for unparalleled connectivity, VSAT, GSAT-20, usage of fibers for robust coverage, and other important points.

Department of Telecom assured that by the next working season, last-mile coverage will be provided to all habitations.