Amid standoff with China, connectivity takes a leap along LAC in Ladakh

Amid the ongoing border confrontation with China, the Ladakh administration made a leap in expanding reliable voice and data connectivity along LAC (Line of Real Control) by launching 4G services in four advanced villages on Sunday.

Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, representing Ladakh in Lok Sabha, launched Reliance-Jio voice and data services in Demchok, Chushul, Nyoma and Durbuk. The projects are being financed by the Center Universal Service Obligation Funddistrict officials said.

The launch of a reliable telecommunications service is expected to produce a qualitative change in the lives of border dwellers in terms of security, health and education, especially when these areas become practically inaccessible during harsh winters. It will also help soldiers keep in touch (within the rules of personal phone use) with the family without having to climb a hill to pick up the BSNL signal (if available) or avoid Chinese telecommunications towers.

It also marks the Army’s new approach to civil construction in border areas. The telecommunications plan for Demchok, for example, has been on hold for more than a year due to objections from the Army. Faced with the persistence of the district administration, the RR unit (Rashtriya Rifles), which replaced the previous regiment, took a positive view and approved the plan in a meeting with district officials on June 20. The 14th Corps is also speeding up the permit for laying cables. and erection of towers.
Demchok, a ‘zero kilometer’ village in eastern Ladakh, about 353 km from Leh by road, is one of the places, the other is Depsang in the western part, where Indian and Chinese troops are still fighting each other.
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Chushul, south of Pangong Tso, about 250 km from Leh, saw massive military mobilization by both sides last year during the peak of border tension after the June skirmish in the Galwan Valley in which both sides suffered casualties. .

The Army uses Durbuk and Nyoma as staging areas for the transfer of troops, armor and supplies on the Galwan-Shyok and Chushul-Demchok axes.

The Center has approved 70 towers for launching telecommunications services in isolated villages in Ladakh. Services have started in many identified villages, including Tangtse, the headquarters of the Army’s 114th Brigade that protects the LAC in Ladakh, Diskit in the Nubra Valley, and Sarchu in the Kargil district.

While many of these villages did not have telecom connectivity, the state BSNL service was, and still is, spotty at best. While BSNL is at a standstill for various reasons, the government decided to take the USOF route to connect the highpass land after it became federal territory. Strugglerking