Pune, Aug. 22 -- Union minister for communications Jyotiraditya Scindia and Brazil's minister of communication Frederico de Siqueira Filho on Friday signed a MoU to deepen cooperation in telecommunications and information and communications technologies (ICTs) on the sidelines of the12th BRICS Communication Ministers meeting in Pune. The agreement will advance digital innovation, strengthen digital infrastructure and foster cooperation in emerging technologies. Scindia told media that India has made 'monumental' progress in the telecommunication sector in the last one decade, citing subscriber growth, broadband penetration and lower tariffs. "India's transformation in the telecom sector has been led by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have presently 1.33 billion mobile subscribers. Our internet penetration has grown from 250 million to over a billion subscribers. Our broadband penetration has grown from just 65 million to a billion people across our country. And all this has been possible on a paradigm of reducing costs," said Scindia. while interacting with the media. Over 12 years ago, he said, a voice call was 50 paise per unit, which is now just 0.03 paise a unit. One 1 GB of data that used to cost Rs.287 now costs less than Rs.10. As far as the spread of telecom networks is concerned, India now has over 2 million Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) and 20 lakh BTS for 4G covering 99.9% of the country's population. "India started its 5G rollout in October 2022 and it has been the fastest rollout in the world. At present it covers all districts in the country covering 86% of the population," he added....