Lok Sabha Question No. 669 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-19
Subject: Telecom Services in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV, KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE, RAMSINH PATALYABHAI RATHWA, SADASHIV KISAN LOKHANDE, RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA, SHIVKUMAR CHANABASAPPA UDASI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.669 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 th  JULY, 2017

## TELECOM SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS

†669. SHRI LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV:

SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE:

SHRI RAMSINH RATHWA:

SHRI SADASHIV LOKHANDE:

SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

SHRI SHIVKUMAR UDASI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number of mobile phone and landline connections being provided by different Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs) including  Telecom  PSUs  in  urban  and  rural areas separately, State/UT-wise and TSP-wise;
- (b) the percentage of rural households in the country that currently have access to telecom services including internet facilities, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether  the  BSNL  proposes  to  provide  good  quality  telecom  service  including  3G services and install mobile towers in each village of the country and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government so far in this regard including the total number of 3G mobile towers erected in the villages, State/UT-wise;
- (d) the number of villages with a population of more than 5000 where BSNL has provided telecom  services,  State/UT-wise  along  with  the  number  of  such  villages  which  are  yet  to  be provided with these services, State/UT-wise and time by which the said services will be made available to these villages; and
- (e) whether the total number of mobile towers is adequate in comparison to the total number of subscribers in the country and if so, the details thereof including the number of mobile towers erected, State/ UT-wise and if not, the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The Service Area-wise total number of mobile phone and landline connections provided by  different  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  including  Telecom  PSUs  in  urban  and  rural areas as well as the details of TSP wise telephone connections  as on 31-05-2017 are given at Annexure-I and Annexure-II respectively.

(b) Based on the results of the latest survey on Social Consumption: Education conducted by NSSO ( National Sample Survey Office) during January 2014 to June 2014, the estimated percentage of households (with at least one member of age 14 years and above) having access to use internet facility in rural areas, for each State/UT is given at Annexure-III

(c) BSNL  has  wide  spread  network  covering  rural  areas  based  on  techno  commercial viability/feasibility. For improvement/up-gradation of mobile services in BSNL's network, Mobile equipment  is  being  procured  /  upgraded  progressively  from  time  to  time.  At  present  GSM (Global  System  for  Mobile  communication)  Phase  VII+  expansion  project  is  under  roll  out.  It includes installation of 13213 3G Node Bs. Out of this 11585 3G Node Bs are already on air. Remaining Nodes are being commissioned progressively. Service area wise 3G BTSs (Base Trans-receiver Stations) installed in the network including rural areas is  at Annexure-IV.

(d) Out of 20941 villages with a population of more than 5000, BSNL has covered 19430 villages with mobile services and remaining are progressively commissioned based on techno commercial  viability & feasibility. Circle wise details is at Annexure-IV.

(e) T he telecom towers are installed with a long-term view to serve for the license duration which is twenty years at a time. Roll out of new sites is a continuous process and depends on changing traffic requirements from customers' end. There is no universal criterion to fix number of  towers  as  per  geographic  area  or  population  density.  Therefore,  technically  there  is  no specific  correlation  between  the  number  of  subscribers  in  the  country  versus  the  number  of mobile towers erected by the service providers, as a single tower could accommodate multiple BTSs. The requirement for mobile tower in any area remains dynamic in nature.  The location and required number of towers in any area is dependent upon many long-term factors such as physical terrain, frequency used, type of network - 2G, 3G or 4G, and short-term factors such as  variations  in  user-density  at  a  given  location  and  time,  re-location  of  towers  due  to  nonrenewal of tenancy agreements etc.

The  total  number  of  mobile  towers    in    different    licensed  service  areas  is  given  in Annexure -V.

Contd…3/-

## Service area wise land line and mobile telephone connections as on 31.05.2017

| Sr. No.          | Service area.        | Total Landline Phones   | Total Landline Phones   | Total Landline Phones   | Total Mobile Phones   | Total Mobile Phones   | Total Mobile Phones   |
|------------------|----------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|
| Sr. No.          | Service area.        | Rural                   | Urban                   | Total                   | Rural                 | Urban                 | Total                 |
| 1                | Andhra Pradesh       | 303850                  | 1315348                 | 1619198                 | 38880256              | 46509051              | 85389307              |
| 2                | Assam                | 27333                   | 125113                  | 152446                  | 13944771              | 8181467               | 22126238              |
| 3                | Bihar                | 81166                   | 222887                  | 304053                  | 49736199              | 36033509              | 85769708              |
| 4                | Gujarat              | 187573                  | 1134815                 | 1322388                 | 28177013              | 43794087              | 71971100              |
| 5                | Haryana              | 68973                   | 265914                  | 334887                  | 11378138              | 14030579              | 25408717              |
| 6                | Himachal Pradesh     | 89496                   | 54656                   | 144152                  | 7176676               | 3408144               | 10584820              |
| 7                | Jammu & Kashmir      | 15913                   | 113161                  | 129074                  | 6032368               | 6168156               | 12200524              |
| 8                | Karnataka            | 185589                  | 2078865                 | 2264454                 | 22251953              | 46976496              | 69228449              |
| 9                | Kerala               | 1276719                 | 816938                  | 2093657                 | 17641043              | 21909705              | 39550748              |
| 10               | Madhya Pradesh       | 116294                  | 897173                  | 1013467                 | 33519468              | 36785358              | 70304826              |
| 11               | Maharashtra          | 339633                  | 1524971                 | 1864604                 | 43536201              | 50859659              | 94395860              |
| 12               | North East           | 24325                   | 93944                   | 118269                  | 6424397               | 6272556               | 12696953              |
| 13               | Odisha               | 62875                   | 221263                  | 284138                  | 20650099              | 14003975              | 34654074              |
| 14               | Punjab               | 238629                  | 742923                  | 981552                  | 13908066              | 22748382              | 36656448              |
| 15               | Rajasthan            | 122043                  | 596216                  | 718259                  | 34793542              | 32927879              | 67721421              |
| 16               | Tamil Nadu           | 358827                  | 2153350                 | 2512177                 | 26009868              | 63770177              | 89780045              |
| 17               | Uttar Pradesh (East) | 68512                   | 418334                  | 486846                  | 53654700              | 52535147              | 106189847             |
| 18               | Uttar Pradesh (West) | 39859                   | 345985                  | 385844                  | 29910619              | 37455431              | 67366050              |
| 19               | West Bengal          | 136664                  | 183543                  | 320207                  | 40219402              | 18636029              | 58855431              |
| 20               | Kolkata              | 0                       | 845330                  | 845330                  | 2421620               | 26992434              | 29414054              |
| 21               | Delhi                | 0                       | 3221342                 | 3221342                 | 2584183               | 51601641              | 54185824              |
| 22               | Mumbai               | 0                       | 3041630                 | 3041630                 | 1422561               | 35147430              | 36569991              |
| ALL- INDIA TOTAL | ALL- INDIA TOTAL     | 3744273                 | 20413701                | 24157974                | 504273143             | 676747292             | 1181020435            |

Source: DoT compiled data

## Annexure-I

Contd…4/-

Annexure-II

TSP wise Land line and Wireless telephone connections as on 31-05-2017

| S.No.   | Service provider                                   | Land line   | Land line   | Land line   | Wireless   | Wireless   | Wireless   |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
|         |                                                    | Rural       | Urban       | Total       | Rural      | Urban      | Total      |
|         | Private operators                                  |             |             |             |            |            |            |
| 1       | Bharti Airtel                                      | 0           | 3873631     | 3873631     | 140017092  | 138582341  | 278599433  |
| 2       | TATA Teleservices Ltd.                             | 54895       | 1776889     | 1831784     | 10353522   | 35075909   | 45429431   |
| 3       | Quadrant Televentures Ltd. (formerly HFCL Infotel) | 58572       | 205904      | 264476      | 0          | 0          | 0          |
| 4       | Aircel                                             | 0           | 0           | 0           | 31920068   | 58813464   | 90733532   |
| 5       | Reliance                                           | 1703        | 1166942     | 1168645     | 18548423   | 63797351   | 82345774   |
| 6       | Reliance Jioinfocomm                               | 0           | 0           | 0           | 28331094   | 89007361   | 117338455  |
| 7       | Vodafone Essar                                     | 0           | 148889      | 148889      | 115636984  | 95313954   | 210950938  |
| 8       | Telenor                                            | 0           | 0           | 0           | 13942758   | 34077565   | 48020323   |
| 9       | Idea Mobile Communications                         | 0           | 0           | 0           | 111014057  | 85228691   | 196242748  |
| 10      | Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd.                    | 9921        | 46545       | 56466       | 955409     | 3423838    | 4379247    |
|         | Private Total (1 to10)                             | 125091      | 7218800     | 7343891     | 470719407  | 603320474  | 1074039881 |
|         | PSUs                                               |             |             |             |            |            |            |
| 11      | BSNL                                               | 3619182     | 9750298     | 13369480    | 33553736   | 69803771   | 103357507  |
| 12      | MTNL                                               | 0           | 3444603     | 3444603     | 0          | 3623047    | 3623047    |
|         | PSU Total (11 to12)                                | 3619182     | 13194901    | 16814083    | 33553736   | 73426818   | 106980554  |
|         | All India Total (Psu+Private) (1 to12)             | 3744273     | 20413701    | 24157974    | 504273143  | 676747292  | 1181020435 |

Source: -BSNL, MTNL, COAI, AUSPI.

Contd…5/-

## Annexure-III

## Proportion of households having access to use Internet facility in Rural Areas

| Sl. No.   | State/UT          |   Proportion of households |
|-----------|-------------------|----------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    |                       33.5 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |                       20   |
| 3         | Assam             |                        9.9 |
| 4         | Bihar             |                        5.7 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      |                        2.5 |
| 6         | Delhi             |                       42.9 |
| 7         | Goa               |                       48.6 |
| 8         | Gujarat           |                       17.1 |
| 9         | Haryana           |                       21.4 |
| 10        | Himachal Pradesh  |                       25.6 |
| 11        | Jammu & Kashmir   |                       19.6 |
| 12        | Jharkhand         |                        4.7 |
| 13        | Karnataka         |                       15.8 |
| 14        | Kerala            |                       51.3 |
| 15        | Madhya Pradesh    |                        6.4 |
| 16        | Maharashtra       |                       21.4 |
| 17        | Manipur           |                       11.6 |
| 18        | Meghalaya         |                       12.5 |
| 19        | Mizoram           |                       22.4 |
| 20        | Nagaland          |                       44.9 |
| 21        | Odisha            |                        8.7 |
| 22        | Punjab            |                       23   |
| 23        | Rajasthan         |                       19   |
| 24        | Sikkim            |                       25   |
| 25        | Tamil Nadu        |                       34.2 |
| 26        | Telangana         |                       13.2 |
| 27        | Tripura           |                        5.7 |
| 28        | Uttarakhand       |                       14.3 |
| 29        | Uttar Pradesh     |                       14.6 |
| 30        | West Bengal       |                        8.1 |
| 31        | A & N Islands     |                       38.2 |
| 32        | Chandigarh        |                       35.8 |
| 33        | Dadra & N. Haveli |                       10.1 |
| 34        | Daman & Diu       |                       42.2 |
| 35        | Lakshadweep       |                       56.1 |
| 36        | Puducherry        |                       58   |
|           | All-India         |                       16.1 |

Contd…6/-

## Annexure-IV

1. Circle wise 3G- BTSs installed-for answer to part (c)
2. Number of villages covered with mobile services by BSNL as on 31.05.2017-answer to part (d)

| S.N   | CIRCLE            | Village Above 5000 population   | Village Above 5000 population   | Village Above 5000 population   | 3G BTS   |
|-------|-------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|----------|
|       |                   | Total                           | Covered                         | yet to be covered               | Total    |
| 1     | Andaman/Nicobar   | 2                               | 2                               | 0                               | 50       |
| 2     | Andhra Pradesh    | 2286                            | 2286                            | 0                               | 4453     |
| 3     | Assam             | 330                             | 271                             | 59                              | 895      |
| 4     | Bihar             | 2936                            | 2294                            | 642                             | 925      |
| 5     | Chhattisgarh      | 90                              | 79                              | 11                              | 511      |
| 6     | Gujarat           | 1141                            | 1121                            | 20                              | 2381     |
| 7     | Haryana           | 602                             | 602                             | 0                               | 1432     |
| 8     | Himachal Pradesh  | 13                              | 13                              | 0                               | 567      |
| 9     | Jammu& Kashmir    | 147                             | 134                             | 13                              | 513      |
| 10    | Jharkhand         | 364                             | 323                             | 41                              | 886      |
| 11    | Karnataka         | 1000                            | 1000                            | 0                               | 3023     |
| 12    | Kerala            | 924                             | 924                             | 0                               | 3810     |
| 13    | Madhya Pradesh    | 614                             | 537                             | 77                              | 1314     |
| 14    | Maharashtra       | 1500                            | 1387                            | 113                             | 2657     |
| 15    | North East - I    | 140                             | 134                             | 6                               | 413      |
| 16    | North East - Ii   | 147                             | 124                             | 23                              | 369      |
| 17    | Orissa            | 210                             | 210                             | 0                               | 1650     |
| 18    | Punjab            | 308                             | 308                             | 0                               | 1835     |
| 19    | Rajasthan         | 952                             | 917                             | 35                              | 2276     |
| 20    | Tamil Nadu        | 1629                            | 1629                            | 0                               | 2797     |
| 21    | Uttaranchal       | 82                              | 80                              | 2                               | 562      |
| 22    | Uttar Pradesh (E) | 2518                            | 2433                            | 85                              | 2373     |
| 23    | Uttar Pradesh (W) | 1017                            | 975                             | 42                              | 1433     |
| 24    | West Bengal       | 1890                            | 1548                            | 342                             | 690      |
| 25    | Calcutta          | 0                               | 0                               | 0                               | 887      |
| 26    | Chennai           | 99                              | 99                              | 0                               | 1160     |
|       | Total             | 20941                           | 19430                           | 1511                            | 39862    |

Source: BSNL

Service Area-Wise Towers Installed to provide Mobile Services

| Sr.   | Telecom Circle (Licensed Service Area)   | Number of towers installed to provide Mobile Services   | Number of towers installed to provide Mobile Services   |
|-------|------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| 1     | Andhra Pradesh                           |                                                         | 34,491                                                  |
| 2     | Assam                                    |                                                         | 10,070                                                  |
| 3     | Bihar                                    |                                                         | 29,082                                                  |
| 4     | Delhi                                    |                                                         | 19,021                                                  |
| 5     | Gujarat                                  |                                                         | 25,898                                                  |
| 6     | Himachal Pradesh                         |                                                         | 4,973                                                   |
| 7     | Haryana                                  |                                                         | 9,906                                                   |
| 8     | J&K                                      |                                                         | 7,693                                                   |
| 9     | Karnataka                                |                                                         | 28,115                                                  |
| 10    | Kerala                                   |                                                         | 15,791                                                  |
| 11    | Maharashtra                              |                                                         | 35,615                                                  |
| 12    | Mumbai                                   |                                                         | 14,280                                                  |
| 13    | Madhya Pradesh                           |                                                         | 29,749                                                  |
| 14    | North East                               |                                                         | 6,392                                                   |
| 15    | Odisha                                   |                                                         | 14,955                                                  |
| 16    | Punjab                                   |                                                         | 17,557                                                  |
| 17    | Rajasthan                                |                                                         | 24,078                                                  |
| 18    | TamilNadu                                |                                                         | 27,689                                                  |
| 19    | Chennai                                  |                                                         | 11,087                                                  |
| 20    | UP (East)                                |                                                         | 29,830                                                  |
| 21    | UP (West)                                |                                                         | 23,068                                                  |
| 22    | West Bengal                              |                                                         | 17,554                                                  |
| 23    | Kolkata                                  |                                                         | 8675                                                    |
|       | Total                                    |                                                         | 445,569                                                 |

Source: DoT compiled data

***************

## Annexure-V