Lok Sabha Question No. 369 (STARRED), answered on 2018-03-21
Subject: Review of Decisions taken by TRAI
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: RAMA KISHORE SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 369 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21 ST     MARCH, 2018

## REVIEW OF DECISIONS TAKEN BY TRAI

- †*369. SHRI RAMA KISHORE SINGH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has conducted/proposes to conduct any review of the decisions  taken  by  the  Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  with  regard  to elimination  of  call  drop  problem  and  expansion  of  communication  services  in  the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of the ongoing/pending projects pertaining to expansion of telephone and mobile services during the last three years and the current year; and
- (d) the funds allocated and spent on each of the said projects, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (d) A statement is laid on the table of the House.

Contd………2/-

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PART (a) to (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *369 FOR 21 ST  MARCH, 2018 ON 'REVIEW OF DECISIONS TAKEN BY TRAI'.

(a) & (b) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) established under TRAI Act 1997 as amended, has been entrusted under Section 11(1) (b)  (v)  of  the  Act  to  ' lay down the standards of quality of service  to be provided by  the  service  providers  and ensure the quality of service and conduct the periodical survey of such service provided by the service providers so as to protect interest of the consumers of telecommunication service '.

Section 36 empowers TRAI to make regulations consistent with the Act. Hence, TRAI has notified various Quality of Service Regulations, under Section 36 of the Act, to lay  down  the  standards  of  quality  of  service  to  be  provided  by  Telecommunications Service Provider (TSPs) from time to time.

In accordance with Section 37 of the Act, every rule and every regulation made under the Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session.

TRAI is an independent regulatory body established to regulate the telecommunications  services  and  to  protect  the  interests  of  service  providers  and consumers of the telecom sector.

The Government does not conduct any review of the decisions taken by TRAI.

(c ) The  Government  is  making  all  efforts  for  expansion  of  telephone  and  mobile services  to  provide  affordable  tele-connectivity  through  Universal  Services  Obligation Fund (USOF) as detailed below:

- (i) BharatNet  Project  is  being  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  connect  all Gram  Panchayats  (approx.  2,50,000)  by  broadband  in  the  country.  This infrastructure is accessible on a non-discriminatory basis, to provide affordable broadband services to citizens and institutions in rural areas, in partnership with States and the private sector.

As  on  11.03.2018,  a  total  of  1,12,677  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  have  been connected by laying 2,67,394 km  Optical Fiber Cable (OFC). The number of Service  Ready GPs is 1,04,548. The remaining GPs are planned in phase-II through State Governments, public and private sectors by using an optimal mix of  media  by  March,  2019.  Memorandums  of  Understanding  (MOU)  with  08 States namely, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Odisha have already been signed and mobilisation advance of Rupees 877.57 Crore has been released to the States.

- (ii) Scheme  for  Mobile  Communication  Services  in  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE) affected  Areas  in  10  States  namely,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Phase-I of the scheme has been executed by M/s BSNL.  As on date, 2329 mobile towers out of 2355 planned towers are radiating.

Telecom  Commission  has  considered  and  recommended  the  proposal  of installing 4072 mobile towers at locations identified by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in LWE affected area with a viability gap funding of Rs. 7330 crores from USOF on 21  December  2017  which  is  being  put  up  for  consideration  of  the Cabinet.

- (iii) In  order  to  provide  internet  services  in  rural  areas,  BSNL  is  also  setting  up Public  Wi-Fi  hotspots  at  25,000  Telephone  Exchanges  in  rural  areas  of  the country. As on 23.02.2018, Wi-Fi hotspots have been set-up / installed in 2306 exchanges  and  service  delivery  commenced  in  2138  exchanges.  Remaining shall be installed progressively.
- (iv) Further, Common Service Centre- Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC-SPV), under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, is also setting up 'Wi-Fi Choupals' in 5,000 GPs of  the  country  by  using  BharatNet  infrastructure,  'Wi-Fi  Choupals'  have  been setup  /installed  and  service  delivery  has  commenced  in  1833  GPs  as  on 31.12.2017.
- (v) The Government has approved a 'Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan' for North Eastern Region (NER).

Agreements  have  been  signed  with  M/s  Bharti  Airtel  Limited  and  M/s  Bharti Hexacom Limited to install 2,004 mobile towers for providing mobile coverage in 2,128  villages  lying  in  Manipur,  Mizoram,  Nagaland,  Sikkim,  Tripura,  parts  of Assam and National Highways in North-Eastern States with an estimated cost of Rs. 1,656 Crore. An agreement with M/s BSNL to install 2,817 mobile towers for providing  mobile  coverage  in  4,119  uncovered  villages  of  Arunachal  Pradesh and two districts of Assam with an estimated cost of Rs. 2,258 Crore has been signed.

A  scheme  for  Optical  Fiber  Cable  (OFC)  network  augmentation  between  the Block  Headquarter  (HQ)  and  Districts  HQ  for  creation  of  OFC  is  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.

- (vi) Under  'Comprehensive Telecom  Development Plan' for  Andaman  &  Nicobar Island, satellite bandwidth for Andaman & Nicobar Islands has been augmented from  260  Mbps  to  1320  Mbps  by  BSNL.  On  21.09.2016,  the  Government approved  a  proposal  for  providing  OFC  connectivity  from  mainland  India (Chennai)  to  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands.  The  estimated  cost  for  Capital Expenditure is Rs. 880.03 Crore and to be funded by USOF. The Operational Expenditure is  Rs.  44.47  Crore  per  annum and  to  be  funded by  Andaman  & Nicobar Islands and UT Administration/MHA. Subsequently decision has been taken on 22.08.2017 to connect Rangat Island via Long Island from Havelock Island on submarine OFC in addition to Six Islands. 321 km Intra Island OFC is being  laid  in  Andaman  &  Nicobar  by  BSNL  on  nomination  basis  to  augment bandwidth for enhancing the capacity of the network and providing OFC in ring configuration.  The  estimated  project  cost  is  Rs.  35.35  Crore.  On  09.01.2018, Telecom  Commission  approved  a  proposal  for  providing  mobile  services  on 2G+4G technology in  172  uncovered  villages  and  entire  129  Km  of  National Highway (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The estimated cost including CAPEX & OPEX and project management charges is Rs. 342.40 Crore.
- (vii) A  'Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan'  for  Lakshadweep  Islands  is being implemented to augment satellite bandwidth from 102 Mbps to 318 Mbps by  BSNL.  Bandwidth  has  been  augmented  from  102  Mbps  to  282  Mbps  by BSNL. On 14.12.2016, Telecom Commission approved a proposal for installation  of  10  new  BTSs  to  improve  the  Quality  of  Service  (QoS)  in Lakshadweep Islands. The estimated cost of project is Rs. 10.1 Crore, funded by USOF.
- viii) Under  Rural  Wireline  Broadband  Scheme,  a  total  of  8,88,832  broadband connections  and  28,672  kiosks  have  been  envisaged  of  which  6,56,345 broadband connections and 15, 671 kiosks have been set-up.
- (d) Disbursement  of  subsidy  is  made  project-wise  instead  of  State/UT  wise.  The details of USOF subsidy reimbursed for the schemes in last three years and the current year are at Annexure-I.

Contd…5/-

## Annexure-I

## The status of disbursement of subsidy under USOF Schemes is given below:

(Rupees in Crore)

| Sl. No.   | Activity                                                            | Subsidy Disbursed   | Subsidy Disbursed   | Subsidy Disbursed   | Subsidy Disbursed   |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|
| Sl. No.   | Activity                                                            | 2014-15             | 2015-16             | 2016-17             | 2017-18 as on date  |
| 1.        | BharatNet (previously NOFN)                                         | 1351.86             | 2415.10             | 5600.00             | 4350.00             |
| 2.        | Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas                                  | 596.51              | 617.05              | 280.68              | 446.84              |
| 3.        | Setting up of 25000 public Wi- Fi hotspots at rural block exchanges | 0                   | 0                   | 0                   | 187.50              |
| 4.        | 'Wi-Fi Choupal' at 5,000 Gram Panchayats by CSC                     | 0                   | 0                   | 35.70               | 68.16               |
| 5.        | Augmentation of Satellite Bandwidth in A&N Islands                  | 0                   | 8.10                | 0                   | 0                   |
| 6.        | Augmentation of Satellite Bandwidth in Lakshadweep                  | 0                   | 0                   | 4.65                | 0                   |
| 7.        | Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) infrastructure in Assam                   | 31.40               | 0.00                | 0                   | 0                   |
| 8.        | OFC NE-I                                                            |                     | 3.95                | 14.48               | 0                   |
| 9.        | OFC NE-II                                                           |                     | 0.00                | 13.04               | 0                   |
| 10.       | Rural Wireline Broadband Scheme                                     | 80.54               | 48.66               | 21.09               | 10.60               |
|           | Grand Total                                                         | 2060.31             | 3092.86             | 5969.64             | 5063.10             |

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