Lok Sabha Question No. 2371 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-30
Subject: BSNL Service in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: R. GOPALAKRISHNAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2371 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30 TH  NOVEMBER, 2016

## BSNL SERVICE IN RURAL AREAS

2371. SHRI R. GOPALAKRISHNAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  villages  provided  with  telecom  facilities  separately  for  the  mobile and landline services by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), State-wise;
- (b) whether BSNL plans to provide all the village panchayats with telecom facility and proposes to install mobile towers in each village panchayat and also provide 3G service in the villages;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with the details of 2G and 3G mobile towers set up in the villages so far, State-wise;
- (d) whether the Government has taken steps to ensure and improve the quality of services provided by the BSNL in rural areas, especially the issues of call drops, mobile connectivity etc.; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof State-wise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) The details of total number of villages covered by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)  with  mobile  services  and  Village  Panchayat  Telephone  (VPT)  facility  in  the country is at Annexure-I and Annexure-II respectively.

(b)&(c) State-wise  details  of  village  panchayats  covered  with  telecom  facility  by  BSNL  is  at Annexure-II. State-wise details of 2G Mobile towers set up by BSNL in the villages is given at Annexure-III. BSNL has informed that presently 3G BTSs (Base Transceiver Station)  are  not  installed  in  rural  areas,  and  mobile  coverage  is  provided  based  on techno-commercial feasibility.

(d) & (e) BSNL is  providing  telecom  services  in  its  licensed  service  areas  and  is meeting benchmarks of most of the QoS(Quality of Service) parameters prescribed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in respect of Landline/Broadband service. The call drop rate in BSNL network in its Licensed Service Areas (LSA) in the country including  rural  segment  is  within  the  TRAI  benchmark,  details  of  call  drop  rate  is enclosed at Annexure-IV. To improve the quality of the services in rural areas, BSNL has taken following steps:-

- i) A  GSM  network  expansion  project  has  been  undertaken  to  provide connectivity by way of installation of towers and Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) in rural areas throughout the country.
2. ii) The BSNL network is being optimized continuously to improve performance.

Total Number of villages covered with mobile services by BSNL (as on 30.09.2016).

| Sl No.   | Name of State/Circle   | Total number of Villiages covered   |
|----------|------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman & Nicobar      | 323                                 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh         | 22633                               |
| 3        | Assam                  | 20291                               |
| 4        | Bihar                  | 28045                               |
| 5        | Chhattishgarh          | 12306                               |
| 6        | Chennai                | 1515                                |
| 7        | Gujarat                | 13238                               |
| 8        | Haryana                | 4,475                               |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh       | 16930                               |
| 10       | Jammu & Kashmir        | 5289                                |
| 11       | Jharkhand              | 22021                               |
| 12       | Karnataka              | 22022                               |
| 13       | Kerala                 | 1489                                |
| 14       | Kolkata                | 437                                 |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh         | 30470                               |
| 16       | Maharashtra            | 20972                               |
| 17       | North East I           | 2799                                |
| 18       | North East II          | 5205                                |
| 19       | Odisha                 | 27872                               |
| 20       | Punjab                 | 11321                               |
| 21       | Rajasthan              | 26343                               |
| 22       | Tamilnadu              | 12162                               |
| 23       | UttarPradesh (East)    | 71766                               |
| 24       | UttarPradesh (West)    | 14255                               |
| 25       | Uttarakhand            | 13485                               |
| 26       | West Bengal            | 25516                               |
| Total    | Total                  | 4,33,180                            |

Conte…..3/-

Annexure-II State/Circle wise details of villages panchayats covered with VPT facility as on 30.09.2016

| Sl. No.   | Name of Circle      |   Number of village panchayats covered with working VPTs landline services |
|-----------|---------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andaman and Nicobar |                                                                        340 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh      |                                                                      10113 |
| 3         | Assam               |                                                                       2900 |
| 4         | Bihar               |                                                                       7008 |
| 5         | Jharkhand           |                                                                      10899 |
| 6         | Gujrat              |                                                                      11564 |
| 7         | Haryana             |                                                                       1584 |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh    |                                                                       9144 |
| 9         | Jammu and Kashmir   |                                                                       4597 |
| 10        | Karnataka           |                                                                      12492 |
| 11        | Kerala              |                                                                        525 |
| 12        | Madhya Pradesh      |                                                                      51372 |
| 13        | Chhattisgarh        |                                                                       7626 |
| 14        | Maharashtra         |                                                                      28544 |
| 15        | North East-I        |                                                                       2057 |
| 16        | North East-II       |                                                                       6228 |
| 17        | Odisha              |                                                                       6205 |
| 18        | Punjab              |                                                                      10406 |
| 19        | Rajasthan           |                                                                      22063 |
| 20        | TamilNadu           |                                                                      13077 |
| 21        | Uttar Pradesh East  |                                                                       2829 |
| 22        | Uttar Pradesh-West  |                                                                       4777 |
| 23        | Uttarakhand         |                                                                       3462 |
| 24        | West Bengal         |                                                                      37179 |
| Total     | Total               |                                                                     266991 |

Contd…4/-

## Annexure-III

| Sl No.   | Name of circle/ Metro Distt.   | Number of 2G BTS working in Rural Area   |
|----------|--------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman and Nicobar            | 101                                      |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh                 | 4774                                     |
| 3        | Assam                          | 848                                      |
| 4        | Bihar                          | 2224                                     |
| 5        | Chhattishgarh                  | 1233                                     |
| 6        | Chennai                        | 363                                      |
| 7        | Gujarat                        | 2494                                     |
| 8        | Haryana                        | 1,606                                    |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh               | 947                                      |
| 10       | Jammu and Kashmir              | 726                                      |
| 11       | Jharkhand                      | 1271                                     |
| 12       | Karnataka                      | 3233                                     |
| 13       | Kerala                         | 3772                                     |
| 14       | Kolkata                        | 0                                        |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh                 | 2181                                     |
| 16       | Maharashtra                    | 4574                                     |
| 17       | North East I                   | 494                                      |
| 18       | North East II                  | 497                                      |
| 19       | Odisha                         | 2163                                     |
| 20       | Punjab                         | 2090                                     |
| 21       | Rajasthan                      | 2655                                     |
| 22       | Tamilnadu                      | 2763                                     |
| 23       | UttarPradesh (East)            | 3849                                     |
| 24       | UttarPradesh (West)            | 1662                                     |
| 25       | Uttrarakhand                   | 711                                      |
| 26       | West Bengal                    | 1829                                     |
| Total    | Total                          | 49,060                                   |

Contd…5-

## Annexure-IV

| All LSA Call Drop Report for 2G Services w.e.f. April 2016 to September 2016 of BSNL   | All LSA Call Drop Report for 2G Services w.e.f. April 2016 to September 2016 of BSNL   | All LSA Call Drop Report for 2G Services w.e.f. April 2016 to September 2016 of BSNL   | All LSA Call Drop Report for 2G Services w.e.f. April 2016 to September 2016 of BSNL   | All LSA Call Drop Report for 2G Services w.e.f. April 2016 to September 2016 of BSNL   | All LSA Call Drop Report for 2G Services w.e.f. April 2016 to September 2016 of BSNL   | All LSA Call Drop Report for 2G Services w.e.f. April 2016 to September 2016 of BSNL   | All LSA Call Drop Report for 2G Services w.e.f. April 2016 to September 2016 of BSNL   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl No                                                                                  | Name of Service Area                                                                   | Call Drop Rate (%age)                                                                  | Call Drop Rate (%age)                                                                  | Call Drop Rate (%age)                                                                  | (Benchmark <=2%)                                                                       | Call Drop Rate (%age)                                                                  | Call Drop Rate (%age)                                                                  |
|                                                                                        |                                                                                        | April 16                                                                               | May 16                                                                                 | June 16                                                                                | July 16                                                                                | August 16                                                                              | September 16                                                                           |
| 1                                                                                      | Andhra Pradesh                                                                         | 0.68                                                                                   | 0.68                                                                                   | 0.7                                                                                    | 0.71                                                                                   | 0.71                                                                                   | 0.75                                                                                   |
| 2                                                                                      | Assam                                                                                  | 1.96                                                                                   | 1.88                                                                                   | 1.92                                                                                   | 1.93                                                                                   | 1.91                                                                                   | 1.94                                                                                   |
| 3                                                                                      | Bihar                                                                                  | 1.41                                                                                   | 1.325                                                                                  | 1.465                                                                                  | 1.355                                                                                  | 1.365                                                                                  | 1.48                                                                                   |
| 4                                                                                      | Chhattisgarh                                                                           | 0.64                                                                                   | 0.82                                                                                   | 0.75                                                                                   | 0.75                                                                                   | 0.64                                                                                   | 0.7                                                                                    |
| 5                                                                                      | Kolkata                                                                                | 0.95                                                                                   | 1.01                                                                                   | 1.12                                                                                   | 1.24                                                                                   | 1.13                                                                                   | 1.24                                                                                   |
| 6                                                                                      | Gujarat                                                                                | 0.41                                                                                   | 0.41                                                                                   | 0.41                                                                                   | 0.42                                                                                   | 0.43                                                                                   | 0.39                                                                                   |
| 7                                                                                      | Himachal Pradesh                                                                       | 1.95                                                                                   | 1.73                                                                                   | 1.82                                                                                   | 1.92                                                                                   | 1.86                                                                                   | 1.98                                                                                   |
| 8                                                                                      | Haryana                                                                                | 1.18                                                                                   | 1.24                                                                                   | 1.31                                                                                   | 1.38                                                                                   | 1.58                                                                                   | 1.54                                                                                   |
| 9                                                                                      | Jammu & Kashmir                                                                        | 1.13                                                                                   | 1                                                                                      | 1.15                                                                                   | 0.85                                                                                   | 0.83                                                                                   | 0.8                                                                                    |
| 10                                                                                     | Kerala                                                                                 | 0.52                                                                                   | 0.56                                                                                   | 0.63                                                                                   | 0.65                                                                                   | 0.65                                                                                   | 0.6                                                                                    |
| 11                                                                                     | Karnataka                                                                              | 0.64                                                                                   | 0.68                                                                                   | 0.69                                                                                   | 0.66                                                                                   | 0.72                                                                                   | 0.71                                                                                   |
| 12                                                                                     | Maharashtra                                                                            | 1.14                                                                                   | 1.09                                                                                   | 1.1                                                                                    | 1.14                                                                                   | 1.24                                                                                   | 1.19                                                                                   |
| 13                                                                                     | Madhya Pradesh                                                                         | 1.255                                                                                  | 1.135                                                                                  | 1.125                                                                                  | 1.03                                                                                   | 1.215                                                                                  | 1.165                                                                                  |
| 14                                                                                     | North-East-I&II                                                                        | 2.065                                                                                  | 1.825                                                                                  | 1.835                                                                                  | 1.755                                                                                  | 1.735                                                                                  | 1.735                                                                                  |
| 15                                                                                     | Odisha                                                                                 | 1.77                                                                                   | 1.77                                                                                   | 1.82                                                                                   | 1.92                                                                                   | 1.89                                                                                   | 1.94                                                                                   |
| 16                                                                                     | Punjab                                                                                 | 0.21                                                                                   | 0.37                                                                                   | 0.36                                                                                   | 0.42                                                                                   | 0.51                                                                                   | 0.51                                                                                   |
| 17                                                                                     | Rajasthan                                                                              | 1.33                                                                                   | 1.38                                                                                   | 1.41                                                                                   | 1.5                                                                                    | 1.6                                                                                    | 1.62                                                                                   |
| 18                                                                                     | Tamil Nadu                                                                             | 1.06                                                                                   | 1.03                                                                                   | 0.97                                                                                   | 0.86                                                                                   | 0.95                                                                                   | 0.96                                                                                   |
| 19                                                                                     | Uttar Pradesh-East                                                                     | 1.39                                                                                   | 1.06                                                                                   | 1.69                                                                                   | 1.68                                                                                   | 1.05                                                                                   | 1.05                                                                                   |
| 20                                                                                     | Uttar Pradesh-West                                                                     | 1.265                                                                                  | 1.215                                                                                  | 1.235                                                                                  | 1.315                                                                                  | 1.33                                                                                   | 1.285                                                                                  |
| 21                                                                                     | West Bengal                                                                            | 1.285                                                                                  | 1.34                                                                                   | 1.395                                                                                  | 1.39                                                                                   | 1.3                                                                                    | 1.345                                                                                  |
|                                                                                        | ALL LSA average call drop                                                              | 1.15                                                                                   | 1.12                                                                                   | 1.19                                                                                   | 1.18                                                                                   | 1.17                                                                                   | 1.19                                                                                   |

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