Lok Sabha Question No. 541 (STARRED), answered on 2017-04-12
Subject: Telecom Services in LWE Affected Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: JANAK RAM

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.541 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12 TH   APRIL, 2017

## TELECOM SERVICES IN LWE AFFECTED AREAS

## †*541. SHRI JANAK RAM:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  non-availability  of  proper  network  connectivity  of  the  Bharat  Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has become a serious problem in various States, including Bihar and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether  the  said  issue  is  exacerbated  in  the  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected districts of Gopalganj, Jadopur, Sipaya, Hathua, Baraipatti, etc. and if so, the details thereof and the remedial measures taken/being taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (c) the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  promote  telephone,  mobile  and internet services in LWE affected areas of Bihar?

## 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) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

Contd…….2/-

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (c)  OF  LOK    SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.541  FOR    12 TH   APRIL,  2017  REGARDING 'TELECOM SERVICES IN LWE AFFECTED AREAS '.

(a) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) had made no investment in the up-gradation of mobile network for a long period of time. However, in the last three years 20,174 2G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) and 20453 3G BTSs have been added in the network. BSNL Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) network is often damaged due to construction of road etc, leading to  poor  customer  satisfaction.  Despite  this,  services  provided  by  BSNL  are  in  general meeting  the  Quality  of  Service  (QoS)  parameters  prescribed  by  Telecom  Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

(b) Gopalganj district is not in the list of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts  in Bihar. 43 mobile BTSs are operational in Gopalganj district which are working satisfactorily, covering Jadopur, Sipaya and Braipatti Gram Panchayats and Hathua Block of the district. However,  some  times  on  accounts  of  ongoing  road  construction  work  on  Chapra,  Siwan, Gopalganj  route,  network  outage  happens  due  to  damage  of  optical  fibre  cable.  In  such events immediate action is taken by BSNL to restore the network. BSNL has also planned to connect some BTSs on radio link to further improve the reliability.

(c) The Government had sanctioned a project to install mobile towers at 2199 locations, including  184  locations  in  Bihar  as  identified  by  the  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  in  10  States, which are affected by the Left Wing Extremism (LWE). Mobile towers at all 184 locations in Bihar  are  operational.  In  addition,  to  increase  the  coverage  in  LWE  affected  areas, Government  has  sanctioned  additional  156  locations,  including  66  locations  in  Bihar  for provision of Mobile Services.

BharatNet is being implemented for providing 100 mbps broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country, with phase-I to connect 1,00,000 GPs being implemented currently. Out of 8,380 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in Bihar, 5,750 GPs have been  taken  up  in  BharatNet  Phase-1.  As  on  31.03.2017,  trenching  and  ducting  has  been completed   for 11,294 Km (4,780 GPs), Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid for 12,172 Km (4,213 GPs) and 443 GPs have been provided with broadband connectivity.

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