Lok Sabha Question No. 161 (STARRED), answered on 2018-03-07
Subject: Tower Footprint
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: ADVOCATE NARENDRA KESHAV SAWAIKAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 161 TO BE ANSWERED ON 7 th  MARCH, 2018

## TOWER FOOTPRINT

- *161.   ADV. NARENDRA KESHAV SAWAIKAR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL)  has  expanded  its  tower footprint in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise including Goa;
- (c) whether all the existing towers are not functional and if so, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the action taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to make all the towers functional and provide better services to its customers?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (d) A statement is laid on the table of the House.

Contd………2/-

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PART (a) to (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *161 FOR 7 TH  MARCH, 2018 ON 'TOWER FOOTPRINT'.

(a) to (d) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has expanded its mobile network throughout the country, including Goa (except Delhi and Mumbai).  As on 31.01.2018, BSNL has 66,857  towers  which  includes  216  towers  in  Goa.    To  further  improve  its network BSNL has finalised Phase-VIII.4 GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) expansion project consisting of :

- Replacement of old equipment having high operational cost & AMC,
- Addition of 3G capacity for increasing 3G footprint,
- Introduction of 4G services.

BSNL is also hiring towers from other infrastructure providers to provide better services to its customers.  The circle-wise details of BSNL towers is at Annexure-I. As on 31.01.2018, BSNL uses 17,562 such hired towers across the country.  The circlewise details of mobile towers added by BSNL by hiring towers from other infrastructure providers is at Annexure-II.

Out of total  66,857 towers of BSNL, as on date 585 towers are non functional due  to  non-availability  of  equipment,  land  issues  and  non-availability  of  the  State Electricity  Board  power  supply.  Operation  and  maintenance  of  towers  is  an  ongoing activity in BSNL.  BSNL will make these non-functional towers functional during the next financial year based on assessment of techno commercial viability.

Contd…3/-

## Annexure-I

| S.No.   | Name of Circles/State   |   Mobile Towers as on 31.01.2018 |
|---------|-------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1       | Andaman & Nicobar       |                              160 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh          |                             3437 |
| 3       | Assam                   |                             1364 |
| 4       | Bihar                   |                             1908 |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh            |                             1638 |
| 6       | Gujarat                 |                             4594 |
| 7       | Goa                     |                              216 |
| 8       | Himachal Pradesh        |                              977 |
| 9       | Haryana                 |                             1557 |
| 10      | Jammu & Kashmir         |                             1043 |
| 11      | Jharkhand               |                             1404 |
| 12      | Kerala                  |                             4081 |
| 13      | Karnataka               |                             4113 |
| 14      | Maharashtra             |                             5681 |
| 15      | Madhya Pradesh          |                             4629 |
| 16      | North East-I            |                              635 |
| 17      | North East-II           |                              676 |
| 18      | Odisha                  |                             2471 |
| 19      | Punjab                  |                             2325 |
| 20      | Rajasthan               |                             4000 |
| 21      | Tamil Nadu              |                             4821 |
| 22      | Telengana               |                             2386 |
| 23      | Uttar Pradesh (East)    |                             4759 |
| 24      | Uttar Pradesh (West)    |                             2291 |
| 25      | Uttarakhand             |                             1041 |
| 26      | West Bengal             |                             2258 |
| 27      | Kolkata TD              |                              869 |
| 28      | Chennai TD              |                             1523 |
| TOTAL   | TOTAL                   |                            66857 |

Contd…4/-

## Annexure-II

Circle wise details of Towers leased-in (Hired) by BSNL from other Infrastructure Provider

| Serial   | Name of Circle       |   Number of Towers Hired as on 31-Mar- 2017 |   Number of Towers Hired as on 31-Jan- 2018 |   Number of Towers added from 01-Apr- 2017 to 31- Jan-2018 |
|----------|----------------------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman & Nicobar    |                                           0 |                                           0 |                                                          0 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh       |                                        1663 |                                        1682 |                                                         19 |
| 3        | Assam                |                                         149 |                                         259 |                                                        110 |
| 4        | Bihar                |                                         855 |                                         855 |                                                          0 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh         |                                          95 |                                          95 |                                                          0 |
| 6        | Chennai TD           |                                         531 |                                         558 |                                                         27 |
| 7        | Gujarat              |                                         390 |                                         393 |                                                          3 |
| 8        | Himachal Pradesh     |                                         248 |                                         256 |                                                          8 |
| 9        | Haryana              |                                         654 |                                         692 |                                                         38 |
| 10       | Jammu & Kashmir      |                                         240 |                                         253 |                                                         13 |
| 11       | Jharkhand            |                                         248 |                                         262 |                                                         14 |
| 12       | Kerala               |                                        1392 |                                        1453 |                                                         61 |
| 13       | Kolkata TD           |                                         274 |                                         274 |                                                          0 |
| 14       | Karnataka            |                                        1649 |                                        1679 |                                                         30 |
| 15       | Maharashtra*         |                                        1526 |                                        1625 |                                                         99 |
| 16       | Madhya Pradesh       |                                         208 |                                         213 |                                                          5 |
| 17       | North East - I       |                                         120 |                                         247 |                                                        127 |
| 18       | North East - II      |                                          80 |                                          97 |                                                         17 |
| 19       | Odisha               |                                        1045 |                                        1122 |                                                         77 |
| 20       | Punjab               |                                        1218 |                                        1236 |                                                         18 |
| 21       | Rajasthan            |                                         731 |                                         737 |                                                          6 |
| 22       | Tamil Nadu           |                                         997 |                                        1008 |                                                         11 |
| 23       | Uttarakhand          |                                         115 |                                         176 |                                                         61 |
| 24       | Uttar Pradesh (East) |                                        1282 |                                        1282 |                                                          0 |
| 25       | Uttar Pradesh (West) |                                         782 |                                         796 |                                                         14 |
| 26       | West Bengal          |                                         306 |                                         312 |                                                          6 |
|          | Total                |                                       16798 |                                       17562 |                                                        764 |

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