Lok Sabha Question No. 2355 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-01
Subject: Broadband Services
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: NIHAL CHAND CHAUHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2355 TO BE ANSWERED ON 1 ST  AUGUST, 2018

## BROADBAND SERVICES

†2355. SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is satisfied with the quality of broadband services being provided in the country;
- (b) if not, the remedial measures taken by the Government in this regard, State/ UTwise;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  fixed  any  time  limit  and  or  prepared  any  draft  for connecting villages with 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi broadband service under Digital India and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the measures 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) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has laid down the Quality of Service standards for various services through regulations issued from time to time and the  performance  of  service  providers  against  these  standards  is  monitored  by  TRAI through Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports submitted by service providers for the service area as a whole.

As  per  Performance  Monitoring  Report  for  the  quarter  ending  March  2018,  for Broadband  Services  all  the  service  providers  are  meeting  the  benchmarks  for  all  the parameters except M/s Limras Eronet Broadband Service Pvt. Ltd. for the parameter "No. of Upstream links for International connectivity having bandwidth utilisation >90% during peak hours (Time Consistent Busy Hours) {Benchmark  is 0 (zero)}", M/s Tata Teleservices Ltd. and M/s Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd. for the parameter "% of faults  repaired  within  3  working  day  (benchmark  =>99%)",  M/s  Tata  Teleservices (Maharashtra)  Ltd.  for  the  parameter  "%  of  faults  repaired  by  next  working  day (>90%)(benchmark  >90%)"and  M/s  You  Broadband  India  Pvt.  Ltd.  for  the  parameter "%age  of  connections  provided  within  15  days  of  registration  of  demand  (benchmark 100%)'.

TRAI imposes financial disincentives also, as a deterrent against noncompliance, wherever the quality of service benchmarks are not met by the service providers.

(c) & (d) At least 88% population of the Country is covered by 3G and /or 4G mobile networks.

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, interalia, resulting into enhancement of coverage 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.

Further, BharatNet is being implemented to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country by March, 2019. Upto 22 nd July 2018, 2,84,157 Kms of Optical Fibre Cable has been laid and 1,13,355 GPs have been made service ready. 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).

Also,  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.

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