Lok Sabha Question No. 948 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-02-08
Subject: Spectrum for Telecom
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: DEVJI MANSINGRAM PATEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.948 TO BE ANSWERED ON 8 TH  FEBRUARY, 2017

## SPECTRUM FOR TELECOM

†948. SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  one  of  the  biggest  challenges  for  Digital  India  Programme  is  slow pace of development of communication infrastructure and only ten percent spectrum is available to metro cities in India as compared to the developed countries;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  per capita availability  of  spectrum  in Metro cities;
- (c) whether  most  of  the  rural  areas  are  deprived  of  internet  facility  as  Internet service    Providers  are  finding  it  economically  unviable  to  provide  the  service  in remote and rural areas;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the corrective action 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) & (b) Spectrum  in  800  MHz,  900  MHz,  1800  MHz,  2100  MHz,  2300  MHz and  2500  MHz  bands  has  been  allotted  to  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  in Metro cities. On an average 34.9 MHz spectrum in above spectrum bands has been allotted  in  Metro  cities  to  each  TSPs.  Details  of  allotment  of  spectrum  to  TSPs  in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Tamil Nadu including Chennai are at Annexure-I.

In the spectrum auction conducted in October 2016, a total of 2354.75 MHz of spectrum in these bands was put to auction, out of which, 964.8 MHz of spectrum was  sold  in  800  MHz,  1800  MHz,  2100  MHz,  2300  MHz  and  2500  MHz  bands. Further, the Government has also permitted various cases for spectrum sharing and spectrum trading among telecom service providers as per the guidelines issued by the Government in this regard.

Contd…….2/-

Therefore, availability of spectrum is not a reason for slow pace of development of communication infrastructure.

- (c) & (d) As on 30 th September 2016, there were 119.79 million Internet Rural subscribers out of total 367.48 million Internet Subscribers. Service Area-wise details of rural subscribers is enclosed as Annexure-II.
- (e)         The  following  schemes are being implemented with  financial support from Universal Service Obligation Fund to improve internet  facility  in rural areas:-
- (i) BharatNet is planned to create network infrastructure for providing broadband connectivity  to  all  Gram  Panchayats  (approx.  2,50,000)  in  the  country.  The Project is being implemented in a phased manner. Status of BharatNet  phase1 as on 29.01.2017 is as under:-
- (ii)  The Government approved a proposal for providing Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connectivity  from  mainland  India  (Chennai)  to  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands  in September  2016  with  estimated  cost  for  CAPEX  as  Rs.  880.03  Crore  and OPEX as Rs. 44.47 Crore per annum.
- (iii)  USOF  schemes  for  Creation  of  OFC  Infrastructure  in  North-East  are  being implemented to provide sufficient back-haul capacity to integrate the voice and data  traffic  from  the  access  network  in  the  rural  areas  to  their  core  network OFC network augmentation between the Block HQ and Districts HQ in NorthEast.
- (iv) The Rural Wireline Broadband Scheme has been implemented to provide wireline broadband connectivity to rural & remote areas by leveraging the existing rural exchanges infrastructure and copper wire-line network. During the period from  2009  to  2015  a  total  of  6,56,345  broadband  connections  have  been provided and 15,671 kiosks have been set up in rural and remote areas under this scheme.

| Items                           | Achievement   |
|---------------------------------|---------------|
| Pipe Laid(Kms)                  | 1,98,064      |
| Pipe Laid (GPs)                 | 84,575        |
| Optical Fibre Cable pulled(Kms) | 1,72,257      |
| Optical Fibre Cable pulled(GPs) | 76,089        |
| GPs provided with connectivity  | 16,305        |

Contd…….3/-

## Spectrum holdings of Telecom Service Providers as on date in Metro cities

## Annexure-I

| Sl. No.   | Service   | Name of the Telecom Service     |                   | Spectrum holding by TSPs (in MHz)   | Spectrum holding by TSPs (in MHz)   | Spectrum holding by TSPs (in MHz)   | Spectrum holding by TSPs (in MHz)   | Spectrum holding by TSPs (in MHz)   | Spectrum holding by TSPs (in MHz)   | Avarage          |
|-----------|-----------|---------------------------------|-------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|------------------|
|           | Area      | providers                       | 800MHz Band (FDD) | 900MHz Band (FDD)                   | 1800MHz Band (FDD)                  | 2100 MHz Band (FDD)                 | 2300 MHz Band (TDD)                 | 2500 MHz Band (TDD)                 | Total Spectrum Holdings             | Spectrum Holding |
| 1         | Delhi     | Aircel Ltd                      | -                 | -                                   | 8.80                                | -                                   |                                     |                                     | 8.80                                | 32.04            |
| 1         | Delhi     | Bharti Airtel Limited           | -                 | 12.00                               | 14.00                               | 20.00                               | 30.00                               |                                     | 76.00                               | 32.04            |
| 1         | Delhi     | Idea Cellular Ltd.              | -                 | 10.00                               | 17.20                               | -                                   |                                     |                                     | 27.20                               | 32.04            |
| 1         | Delhi     | Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd.       | 7.50              | -                                   | 10.80                               | -                                   | 30.00                               |                                     | 48.30                               | 32.04            |
| 1         | Delhi     | Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.  | -                 | 12.40                               | 4.40                                | 10.00                               |                                     |                                     | 26.80                               | 32.04            |
| 1         | Delhi     | Reliance Communications Ltd.    | 2.50              | -                                   | 8.80                                | 10.00                               |                                     |                                     | 21.30                               | 32.04            |
| 1         | Delhi     | Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. | 7.50              | -                                   | -                                   | -                                   |                                     |                                     | 7.50                                | 32.04            |
| 1         | Delhi     | Tata Teleservices Ltd.          | 12.50             | -                                   | -                                   | -                                   |                                     |                                     | 12.50                               | 32.04            |
| 1         | Delhi     | Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd.   | -                 | 10.00                               | 20.00                               | 10.00                               |                                     | 20.00                               | 60.00                               | 32.04            |
| 1         | Delhi     | Total in SA                     | 30.00             | 44.40                               | 84.00                               | 50.00                               | 60.00                               | 20.00                               | 288.40                              | 32.04            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Dishnet Wireless Ltd.           | -                 | -                                   | 8.80                                | 10.00                               |                                     |                                     | 18.80                               | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Bharti Airtel Limited           | -                 | 14.00                               | 18.00                               | -                                   | 30.00                               |                                     | 62.00                               | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited    | 2.50              | 12.40                               | 7.60                                | 10.00                               |                                     |                                     | 32.50                               | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Idea Cellular Ltd.              | -                 | -                                   | 10.00                               | 10.00                               |                                     |                                     | 20.00                               | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd.       | 10.00             | -                                   | 20.00                               | -                                   | 30.00                               |                                     | 60.00                               | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Reliance Communications Ltd.    | 2.50              | -                                   | -                                   | -                                   |                                     |                                     | 2.50                                | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Reliance Telecom Ltd.           | -                 | -                                   | 12.40                               | 10.00                               |                                     |                                     | 22.40                               | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. | 7.50              | -                                   | -                                   | -                                   |                                     |                                     | 7.50                                | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Tata Teleservices Ltd.          | 7.50              | -                                   | 8.80                                | -                                   |                                     |                                     | 16.30                               | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd.   | -                 | 14.00                               | 20.00                               | 10.00                               |                                     | 20.00                               | 64.00                               | 34.00            |
| 2         | Kolkata   | Total in SA                     | 30.00             | 40.40                               | 105.60                              | 50.00                               | 60.00                               | 20.00                               | 306.00                              | 34.00            |
| 3         | Mumbai    | Aircel Ltd                      | -                 | -                                   | 8.80                                | -                                   |                                     |                                     | 8.80                                | 38.18            |

|           | Bharti Airtel Limited               | -     | 10.00   | 30.40   | 10.00   | 30.00   |       |   80.40 |       |
|-----------|-------------------------------------|-------|---------|---------|---------|---------|-------|---------|-------|
|           | Idea Cellular Ltd.                  | -     | -       | 12.80   | 10.00   |         |       |    22.8 |       |
|           | Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd.           | 10.00 | -       | 13.20   | -       | 30.00   |       |    53.2 |       |
|           | Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.      | -     | 12.40   | 4.40    | 10.00   |         |       |    26.8 |       |
|           | Reliance Communications Ltd.        | 10.00 | -       | 10.00   | 10.00   |         |       |    30   |       |
|           | Tata Teleservices(Maharashtra) Ltd. | 5.00  | -       | 10.00   | -       |         |       |    15   |       |
|           | Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd.       | -     | 22.00   | 16.40   | 10.00   |         | 20.00 |    68.4 |       |
|           | Total in SA                         | 25.00 | 44.40   | 106.00  | 50.00   | 60.00   | 20.00 |   305.4 |       |
| Tamil     | Aircel Ltd                          | -     | 15.60   | 24.80   | 10.00   |         |       |    50.4 | 35.42 |
| Nadu      | Bharti Airtel Limited               | -     | 12.40   | 16.00   | 20.00   | 30.00   |       |    78.4 |       |
| including | Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited        | 5.00  | 12.40   | 7.60    | 10.00   |         |       |    35   |       |
| Chennai   | Idea Cellular Ltd.                  | -     | -       | 22.80   | -       |         |       |    22.8 |       |
|           | Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd.           | 7.50  | -       | 13.60   | -       | 30.00   |       |    51.1 |       |
|           | Reliance Communications Ltd.        | 2.50  | -       | 8.80    | -       |         |       |    11.3 |       |
|           | Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd.     | 7.50  | -       | -       | -       |         |       |     7.5 |       |
|           | Tata Teleservices Ltd.              | 7.50  | -       | 8.80    | -       |         |       |    16.3 |       |
|           | Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd.       | -     | -       | 16.00   | 30.00   |         |       |    46   |       |
|           | Total in SA                         | 30.00 | 40.40   | 118.40  | 70.00   | 60.00   | -     |   318.8 |       |

FDD spectrum has been reflected as paired spectrum

Average allotment in Metros

34.91

Annexure-II

## Service Area-wise, Rural subscriber-base of Internet as on 30 th September, 2016

| Telecom Service Area   |   Subscribers in Millions |
|------------------------|---------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh         |                      9.68 |
| Assam                  |                      3.82 |
| Bihar                  |                      9.46 |
| Delhi                  |                      0.67 |
| Gujarat                |                      6.94 |
| Haryana                |                      3.4  |
| Himachal Pradesh       |                      1.86 |
| Jammu & Kashmir        |                      0.68 |
| Karnataka              |                      5.68 |
| Kerala                 |                      6.54 |
| Kolkata                |                      0.49 |
| Madhya Pradesh         |                      6.84 |
| Maharashtra            |                     10.3  |
| Mumbai                 |                      0.32 |
| North East             |                      2.18 |
| Orissa                 |                      3.88 |
| Punjab                 |                      4.64 |
| Rajasthan              |                      7.52 |
| Tamil Nadu             |                      6.97 |
| UP (East)              |                     12.32 |
| UP (West)              |                      6.75 |
| West Bengal            |                      8.83 |
| Total                  |                    119.79 |

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