Lok Sabha Question No. 826 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-20
Subject: Telecom Services in Rural and Backward Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: NISHIKANT  DUBEY, SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV, LAXMAN GILUWA, B.V. NAYAK, RAM TAHAL CHOUDHARY, ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE, BHEEMRAO BASWANTHRAO PATIL, M. UDHAYAKUMAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 826 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH      DECEMBER, 2017

## TELECOM SERVICES IN RURAL AND BACKWARD AREAS

826. SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY:

SHRI SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV:

SHRI LAXMAN GILUWA:

SHRI B.V. NAIK:

SHRI RAM TAHAL CHOUDHARY:

SHRI ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE:

SHRI BHEEMRAO B. PATIL:

ADV. M. UDHAYAKUMAR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether many villages/rural/ backward areas of the country have not been provided with telecommunication  facilities  including  internet  services  and  other  such  areas  have  been experiencing slow internet speed and if so, the details thereof, district-wise and State/UT-wise and the reasons therefor;
- (b) the time by which the said services are likely to be made available across entire rural and backward areas of the country along with the steps taken by the Government to increase the speed of internet in villages;
- (c) whether the  private  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  are  not  interested  in  providing telecom facilities to aforementioned areas in view of its perceived non-lucrativeness and if so, the steps taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (d) the details of the telecom services provided to such areas during each of the last three years and the current year?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) According  to  data  collected  from  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  in  2014,  it  is estimated that there are about  52,685 villages out  of total  5,98,004  villages  i.e.  8.81%  in the country  that  do  not  have  mobile  coverage.  (State-wise  details  of  uncovered  villages  are  at Annexure) . This is being verified through the States.
- (b) & (c) Private  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  make  their  investment  decisions based  on  techno  commercial  consideration.  However,  the  Government  provides  financial assistance from Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund in order to provide telecommunication facilities  in  rural  and  remote  areas  of  the  country.  Following  schemes/programmes  are  being implemented by the Government for provision of telecom services in unviable rural and remote areas of the country:

(i)  Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region (NER): On 10.09.2014,  the  Government  approved  a  proposal  to  implement  a  Comprehensive  Telecom Development  Plan  for  the  North-Eastern  Region  (NER)  to  provide  mobile  coverage  to  8621 identified  uncovered  villages  and  along  National  Highways  with  an  estimated  cost  of  Rs. 5336.18 crore.

(ii)  Mobile  Communication Services in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas: After successful implementation of LWE Phase-I mobile tower project, Department has received an additional  requirement  from  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  (MHA)  for  provisioning  of  4,072  mobile towers in LWE affected areas.

(iii)  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands  and Lakshadweep  Islands: Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan to provide mobile coverage  in  uncovered  villages  along  National  Highways  and  to  augment  the  Satellite Bandwidth for Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep with a total estimated cost of Rs 487.35 Crore is being implemented.

(iv)  BharatNet: BharatNet is being implemented in a phased manner for providing broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country.

(d) Government  has  installed  2,336  mobile  towers  in  10  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE) affected States and 1,05,831 Gram Panchayats (GPs) have been connected by Optical Fiber in last three and half years

Contd…3/-

## State-wise Status of Uncovered Villages

|     | Name of the State/UT               | Total number of inhabited villages   | Number of Uncovered Villages   |
|-----|------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1.  | Andhra Pradesh including Telangana | 26,682                               | 4,511                          |
| 2.  | Assam                              | 25,372                               | 2,885                          |
| 3.  | Bihar                              | 39,073                               | 2,283                          |
| 4.  | Jharkhand                          | 29,492                               | 4,882                          |
| 5.  | NCT of Delhi                       | 103                                  | 0                              |
| 6.  | Gujarat                            | 17,843                               | 1,275                          |
| 7.  | Dadar & Nagar Haveli               | 65                                   | 5                              |
| 8.  | Daman & Diu                        | 19                                   | 1                              |
| 9.  | Himachal Pradesh                   | 17,882                               | 2,416                          |
| 10. | Haryana                            | 6,642                                | 2                              |
| 11. | Jammu & Kashmir                    | 6,337                                | 460                            |
| 12. | Karnataka                          | 27,397                               | 0                              |
| 13. | Kerala                             | 1,017                                | 0                              |
| 14. | Lakshadweep                        | 11                                   | 1                              |
| 15. | Maharashtra                        | 40,959                               | 4,710                          |
| 16. | Goa                                | 320                                  | 65                             |
| 17. | Madhya Pradesh                     | 51,929                               | 5,896                          |
| 18. | Chhattisgarh                       | 19,567                               | 3,372                          |
| 19. | Arunachal Pradesh                  | 5,258                                | 2,886                          |
| 20. | Manipur                            | 2,515                                | 610                            |
| 21. | Meghalaya                          | 6,459                                | 2,389                          |
| 22. | Mizoram                            | 704                                  | 258                            |
| 23. | Nagaland                           | 1,400                                | 137                            |
| 24. | Tripura                            | 863                                  | 2                              |
| 25. | Odisha                             | 47,675                               | 10,060                         |
| 26. | Punjab                             | 12,168                               | 91                             |
| 27. | Rajasthan                          | 43,264                               | 770                            |
| 28. | Tamil Nadu                         | 15,049                               | 113                            |
| 29. | Puducherry                         | 90                                   | 0                              |
| 30. | Uttar Pradesh                      | 97,814                               | 160                            |
| 31. | Uttarakhand                        | 15,745                               | 1,876                          |
| 32. | West Bengal                        | 37,469                               | 356                            |
| 33. | Sikkim                             | 425                                  | 23                             |
| 34. | Andaman & Nicobar Islands          | 396                                  | 190                            |
|     | TOTAL                              | 5,98,004                             | 52,685                         |

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ANNEXURE