Lok Sabha Question No. 205 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-16
Subject: Telecom Servicecs in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: SUSHMITA DEV, PARBHUBHAI NAGARBHAI VASAVA, LAKHAN LAL SAHU, Y. S. AVINASH REDDY, POONAM  MAHAJAN, ABHISHEK SINGH, BANSHILAL MAHTO, JYOTIRADITYA MADHAVRAO SCINDIA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.205 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 TH  NOVEMBER, 2016

## TELECOM SERVICECS IN RURAL AREAS

205. KUMARI SUSHMITA DEV:

SHRI PARBHUBHAI NAGARBHAI VASAVA: SHRI LAKHAN LAL SAHU: SHRI Y.S. AVINASH REDDY: SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN: SHRI ABHISHEK SINGH: DR. BANSHILAL MAHATO: SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  according  top  priority  in  provision  of  mobile  and  other  telecom services in rural areas and proposes to install mobile towers in rural backward and tribal areas;
- (b) If so, the details of mobile towers(2G, 3G, and 4 G) set up in such areas, State and operatorwise;
- (c) the present status of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) in providing telecom service in  these  areas  and the time by which all the villages are likely to be covered by mobile and other telecom services;
- (d) whether difficulties are being faced in providing telecommunication facilities in the such areas and  delay  and  cost  escalation  also  takes  place  in  setting  up  infrastructure  and  if  so,  the  details thereof, and the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard;
- (e) the  details  regarding  rate  of  call  drop  in  small  areas  alongwith  the  action  taken  by  TRAI thereon ?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) The Government has proposed/planned various schemes with financial support from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to ensure mobile telecommunication service in backward and tribal areas of the county. It is estimated that there are about 55,000 villages in the country that do not have mobile coverage. Mobile coverage to these uncovered villages is likely to be provided in a phased manner, subject to availability of financial resources. Government has prioritized to provide mobile communication services in uncovered villages in LWE affected areas, North-Eastern States, Islands, and Himalayan States in the first phase, with financial support from USO Fund.

Action taken by the Government for expansion of telecom infrastructure is as below:

- (i) On  10.09.2014,  the  Government  approved  a  proposal  to  implement  a  Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region (NER).  The Project envisages providing  mobile  coverage to  8621  identified  uncovered  villages  by  installation  of  about 6673 mobile towers, installation of 321 mobile tower sites along National Highways and strengthening of transmission network in the NER.  The estimated cost of implementation is  Rs.  5336.18  crore.    The  Project  would  be  funded  from  Universal  Service  Obligation Fund (USOF). State-wise details are at Annexure-I.
- (ii) 2199 mobile towers are being set up in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States with a total  estimated  cost  of  Rs.3567.58  crore.  2185  mobile  towers  are  radiating  as  on 31.10.2016. State-wise details are at Annexure-I.
- (iii) Telecom Commission has given 'in principle' approval on 07.11.2014 for Comprehensive Telecom  Development  Plan  including  provision  of  mobile  connectivity  for  Andaman  & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands with a total estimated investment of Rs. 221.05 crore.

(d) Service  Providers  including  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL)  have  reported  following difficulties in providing telecommunication services in rural, hilly and remote areas:

- (i)  Low population density and difficult location conditions makes service  provision financially unviable.
- (ii)    CAPEX  (Capital  Expenditure)  and  OPEX  (Operational  Expenditure)  for  development  of telecom infrastructure in these areas is very high.
- (iii)   Lack of adequate telecom backhaul connectivity.
- (iv)   Lack of proper supporting infrastructure (road, electricity supply etc.)

(e) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) monitors the performance of service providers, against the benchmarks for various quality of service parameters laid down by TRAI in the Quality of Service  Regulations  issued  from  time  to  time  through  Quarterly  Performance  Monitoring  Reports (PMRs) submitted by service providers for the service area as a whole. No separate information for Rural Areas is available with TRAI.

For improving the quality of service, TRAI has taken the following steps:

1. Close  monitoring  of  performance  of  service  providers,  against  the  benchmarks  for  various Quality  of  Service  parameters  laid  down  by  TRAI,  through  periodic  reports  from  service providers.
2. Follow  up  action  with  service  providers  and  action  plan  for  improving  quality  of  service, including for Call Drop parameters.
3. Meeting with the service providers at CEO level to evaluate the performance against action plan including for Call Drop parameters.
4. Audit and Assessment of Quality of Service through independent agencies.
5. Assessment of customer perception of service through surveys by independent agencies.
6. Publication  of  results  of  Audit  &  Assessment  of  Quality  of  Service,  including  for  Call  Drop parameters  and  Surveys  on  TRAI  website  namely www.trai.gov.in for information of stakeholders, forcing the service providers to improve its service.
7. Imposition  of  financial  disincentives  for  non-compliance  with  the  benchmarks  for  Quality  of Service parameters.
8. Review of network related Quality of Service parameters and benchmarks for mobile services to improve of Quality of experience by consumers.
9. TRAI  has  recently  launched  TRAI  analytic  portal  www.analytics.trai.gov.in.  The  TRAI  QoS Analytics  portal  provides  a  graphical  view  on  the  map  of  India  the  performance  of  the  2G service  providers  on  call  drop  (on  all  India  level,  service  area  level,  district  level  and  Base Transceiver Station(BTS) level), BTS density per square kilometer and network utilisation so that the consumers can have informed choice based on quality of service.
10. For  addressing  Call  Drop,  TRAI  regularly  undertakes  the  drive  tests  of  mobile  networks  in select  cities,  highways  and  railway  routes  to  assess  the  Quality  of  Service  and  coverage around the areas covered in the drive test routes.
11. The  results  of  Drive  tests  are  shared  with  the  service  providers  for  improving  Quality  of Service and coverage in the areas identified in the Drive Tests.

Contd…3/-

## Annexure-I

## Mobile Towers proposed for uncovered villages  and along National Highways in NER

| S.No.       | State        | No. of Villages proposed to be covered   | Number of Towers Proposed for Uncovered Villages   | No. of Towers proposed along National Highways   |
|-------------|--------------|------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 1 Arunachal | Pradesh 2805 | 1893                                     | 149                                                |                                                  |
| 2 Assam     | 2503         |                                          | 1874                                               | 33                                               |
| Manipur     | 528          |                                          | 384 53                                             | 3                                                |
| Meghalaya   | 2374         |                                          | 2162 11                                            | 4                                                |
| Mizoram     | 252          | 227                                      | 19                                                 | 5                                                |
| Nagaland    | 134          |                                          | 112 48                                             | 6                                                |
| 7 Sikkim    | 23           |                                          | 19 1                                               |                                                  |
| 8 Tripura   | 2            |                                          | 2                                                  | 7                                                |
|             | TOTAL        | 8621                                     | 6673                                               | 321                                              |

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## State-wise breakup of locations under the scheme of mobile services to LWE Affected Areas

| S. No.   | State          | No. of Locations identified MHA   | Total by   |
|----------|----------------|-----------------------------------|------------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh | 54                                |            |
| 2.       | Bihar          | 184                               |            |
| 3.       | Chhattisgarh   | 497                               |            |
| 4.       | Jharkhand      | 782                               |            |
| 5.       | Maharashtra    | 60                                |            |
| 6.       | Madhya Pradesh | 22                                |            |
| 7.       | Odisha         | 253                               |            |
| 8.       | Telangana      | 173                               |            |
| 9.       | Uttar Pradesh  | 78                                |            |
| 10.      | West Bengal    | 96                                |            |
| Total    | Total          | 2,199                             |            |

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