Lok Sabha Question No. 2345 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-01
Subject: Internet Coverage and Speed in Remote Villages
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: RAM TAHAL CHOUDHARY, NISHIKANT  DUBEY, RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY, VIJAY KUMAR HANSDAK

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2345 TO BE ANSWERED ON 1 ST  AUGUST, 2018

## INTERNET COVERAGE AND SPEED IN REMOTE VILLAGES

†2345. SHRI RAM TAHAL CHOUDHARY: SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY: SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY: SHRI VIJAY KUMAR HANSDAK:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of villages in the country including in Santhal Pargana of Jharkhand that are without internet connectivity State-wise and district-wise;
- (b) whether internet facility is not available in remote village of the country, including Jharkhand and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (c) whether internet/broadband speed available in the villages is very low;
- (d) if so, the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the efforts made by the Government to resolve the aforementioned issues and the outcome thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e) Internet  can  be  accessed  by  the  customers  using  wireline  as  well  as wireless technologies. Wireless technologies inter-alia include 2G, 3G and 4G technology. 2G mobile network covers about 97% of population while 3G as well as 4G mobile networks covers atleast 88% of population of the Country. Further, state-wise list of  total  number  of  inhabited  villages  and  number  of  uncovered  villages  by  mobile telephone service is available and the same is enclosed as Annexure. There are total 1222 inhabited villages without mobile services in Jharkhand which includes 284 villages in Santhal Pargana.

As per 'The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators' report released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI) on 27 th  June 2018 for the period JanuaryMarch,2018, there were total 145.82 million internet connections in the rural areas. Out of

these, 106.52 million are broadband  and  39.30  million are narrowband  internet connections.

Internet  speed  depends  on  various  parameters  such  as  technology  deployed, network coverage, number of simultaneous users accessing the internet, connectivity to the website being accessed etc. The speed of mobile internet is further dependent on a number  of  factors  such  as  distance  from  Base  Transceiver  Station  (BTS)  serving  the customer, the number of simultaneous users being served by the BTS, the traffic handled by the BTS etc. As such, the mobile users may experience different speeds at different location and time of usage, irrespective of urban or rural areas.

Further, Government has allocated 965 MHz spectrum through auction in October 2016 to various telecom service providers for access services in the country. Telecom Service Providers are continuously rolling out their networks using this spectrum, which is, inter-alia, resulting into proliferation of 3G and 4G services in the Country.

The following  schemes,  targeted  to  be  completed  within  12  months  after award  of  work,  to  provide  telecom  coverage  in  uncovered  areas  have  also  been approved:

-  Meghalaya - 2173 locations
-  Andaman & Nicobar Islands - 214 locations
-  Left Wing Extremism areas Phase-II - 4072 locations.

BharatNet is being implemented to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country. As part of this project, the last mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband technology is being provided at all the GPs. At each GP, on an average five Access Points (APs) are to be provided (three APs for Government institutions and two APs for public places).

Further,  the  following  schemes,  funded  by  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund (USOF),  are  under  implementation  for  providing  broadband  services  through  Wi-Fi hotspots in country:

-  Public Wi-Fi hotspots are being set up by BSNL at its 25,000 Rural Telephone Exchanges.
-  Wi-Fi  Choupals  are  being  set  up  by  CSC-SPV  at  its  5,000  Gram Panchayats.
-  Wi-Fi  hotspots  are  being  set  up  by  RailTel  at  200  rural  Railway Stations.
-  Wi-Fi hotspots are being set up by BSNL at 200 Gram Panchayats.

## The list of villages without mobile services as on 27 th July 2018 (Based on 2018 Survey):

| Sl. No.   | State Name           | No. of inhabited villages as per census 2011   | No. of inhabited villages without mobile services   |
|-----------|----------------------|------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 1.        | Andaman & Nicobar    | 396                                            | 165                                                 |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh       | 16158                                          | 2745                                                |
| 3.        | Arunachal Pradesh    | 5258                                           | 2215                                                |
| 4.        | Assam                | 25372                                          | 915                                                 |
| 5.        | Bihar                | 39073                                          | 263                                                 |
| 6.        | Chandigarh           | 5                                              | 0                                                   |
| 7.        | Chhattisgarh         | 19567                                          | 3563                                                |
| 8.        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 65                                             | 0                                                   |
| 9.        | Daman & Diu          | 19                                             | 0                                                   |
| 10.       | Delhi                | 103                                            | 0                                                   |
| 11.       | Goa                  | 320                                            | 47                                                  |
| 12.       | Gujarat              | 17843                                          | 1262                                                |
| 13.       | Haryana              | 6642                                           | 8                                                   |
| 14.       | Himachal Pradesh     | 17882                                          | 211                                                 |
| 15.       | Jammu & Kashmir      | 6337                                           | 328                                                 |
| 16.       | Jharkhand            | 29492                                          | 1222                                                |
| 17.       | Karnataka            | 27397                                          | 869                                                 |
| 18.       | Kerala               | 1017                                           | 0                                                   |
| 19.       | Lakshadweep          | 6                                              | 1                                                   |
| 20.       | Madhya Pradesh       | 51929                                          | 5558                                                |
| 21.       | Maharashtra          | 40959                                          | 6117                                                |
| 22.       | Manipur              | 2515                                           | 877                                                 |
| 23.       | Meghalaya            | 6459                                           | 2691                                                |
| 24.       | Mizoram              | 704                                            | 314                                                 |
| 25.       | Nagaland             | 1400                                           | 328                                                 |
| 26.       | Odisha               | 47677                                          | 9940                                                |
| 27.       | Punjab               | 12168                                          | 4                                                   |
| 28.       | Puducherry           | 90                                             | 0                                                   |
| 29.       | Rajasthan            | 43264                                          | 1402                                                |
| 30.       | Sikkim               | 425                                            | 13                                                  |
| 31.       | Tamil Nadu           | 15049                                          | 83                                                  |
| 32.       | Telangana            | 10128                                          | 647                                                 |
| 33.       | Tripura              | 863                                            | 16                                                  |
| 34.       | Uttarakhand          | 15745                                          | 552                                                 |
| 35.       | Uttar Pradesh        | 97813                                          | 295                                                 |
| 36.       | West Bengal          | 37478                                          | 437                                                 |
|           | TOTAL                | 5,97,618                                       | 43,088                                              |

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