China builds 3 cell towers near Hot Springs in Ladakh | India News

NEW DELHI: China has installed three cellphone towers close to the Indian side near Hot Springs in Ladakh, herders returning from winter pasturelands said, indicating Beijing may be looking at building a settlement and expanding military presence in the area that was among the sites where the two armies had faced off in 2020.
Konchok Stanzin, who represents the border constituency of Chushul in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, said installation of cellphone towers in such remote location by China underlines poor communication infrastructure in border villages on the Indian side.
“They (China) are setting up 4G towers in such isolated areas. Their herders will now stay connected. Our graziers fall off the grid once they move out with their livestock. Except two, all border villages are still on 2G (service) that is patchy at best and lacks signal strength,” he told TOI.
He had earlier tweeted pictures of the new Chinese towers, ostensibly clicked by herders from vantage points. TOI could not independently verify the pictures.
Hot Springs is across Marsimik La (pass in Ladakhi), 22 km from Phobrang village that is 5-6 hour’s drive towards east from Leh.
The border area from Phobrang in the west, along Pangong and then Changthang plains to Chumar in the east, is a long, dark telecom patch. Phobrang and twin villages of Man-Merak along the Pangong have 2G service with limited coverage.
Chushsul and Demchok recently received 4G service. But the latter is facing outages and slow service because it is VSAT-based and not optic-fibre service. In between, from ITBP’s Hena post to Tgayarmale observation tower through the open plains of Changthang, Chinese cell service rules the airwaves.
Coming shortly after China completing a bridge on Pangong Tso (lake in Ladakhi), Stanzin said the cell towers at Hot Springs indicates plan to build dual-use infrastructure for settling graziers and may also be enhancing troops.
“They are known to launch 4G service wherever there is large troop presence. The dual-use infrastructure can be used by additional troops,” Stanzin said.
China recently completed a 400-metre-long and 8-metre-wide bridge on its side of Pangong, some 20 km from near Indian Army’s Khurnak post on the south bank in the Chushul sub-sector. The bridge will allow China mobilise troops quicker, if needed. The bridge is around 20 km east (35 km by road) of Finger 8 on the north bank.