Overview

• The Ministry of Communications told Parliament on July 23 that Sikkim’s 68 border villages now have mobile service under the Digital Bharat Nidhi scheme
• Surinder Singh, a tourist, said he experienced 10–15 kilometres of no signal on Nathu La Pass, making digital payments impossible
• Local driver Ajay Tamang reported that only Jio works at Tsomgo Lake and Airtel functions at Baba Mandir, with BSNL service remaining unreliable beyond certain points
• Government data show 4,696 out of 5,200 border habitations in Northeast India have been connected and 11 new DBN tower sites now serve 13 additional villages
• Officials have allocated and disbursed ₹1,775.53 crore since 2020–21 to expand rural telecom infrastructure but high-altitude terrain and backhaul challenges continue to cause coverage gaps