Lok Sabha Question No. 316 (STARRED), answered on 2018-08-08
Subject: Shortage of Mobile Towers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: RAMSINH PATALYABHAI RATHWA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 316 TO BE ANSWERED ON 8 TH   AUGUST, 2018

## SHORTAGE OF MOBILE TOWERS

- *316. SHRI RAMSINH RATHWA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  there  is  an  acute  shortage  of  towers  for  cellular  phone  services  in  the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of the agencies responsible for this situation;
- (c) whether it is a fact that Indian private telecom operators spend hardly 15 per cent of  their  outlay  on  infrastructure  as  against  30  per  cent  in  China  and  if  so,  the  details thereof; and
- (d) the  manner  in  which  the  Government  intends  to  bring  a  turnaround  in  the situation?

## 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.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *316 FOR 8 th  AUGUST, 2018 ON 'SHORTAGE OF MOBILE TOWERS'.

(a) & (b) The Government is making all efforts along with the stakeholders to provide affordable  tele-connectivity  to  all  inhabited  areas  of  the  country.  As  a  result  of  the continuous efforts put-in by the Government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), the number of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) for providing 2G, 3G and 4G-LTE services in the  country  have  increased  from  7.94  lakh  to  18.60  lakh  since  April  2014.  The  total number of mobile towers in the country is over 4.76 lakh and these are shared by multiple TSPs for multiple technologies.

Besides,  the  Government  has  been  working  on  dedicated  programs  through Universal  Services  Obligation  Fund  (USOF)  to  provide  tele-connectivity  in  rural  areas, hilly,  remote  and  tribal  locations  including  islands  in  the  territory  of  India  as  detailed below:

- (i) Bharat-Net plans to connect all the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats in the country for providing broadband connectivity in the Gram Panchayats. As on 29 th  July 2018, about  2,84,723  kilometers  of  Optical  Fiber  Cable  has  been  laid  to  connect 1,18,270 Gram Panchayats (GPs) of which 1,13,549 GPs are service-ready. This infrastructure is available to all TSPs on a non-discriminatory basis for providing local access at rural-level.
- (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  Bharat Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL).    Out  of  2555  tower-locations  identified  by  the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), 2335 mobile towers are radiating.

The Government has approved Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas Phase II  scheme  to  provide  mobile  services  at  4072  MHA  identified  locations  in  Left Wing Extremism affected areas. Detailed Project Report (DPR) for LWE Phase II scheme  is  being  prepared.  Implementation  of  the  project  will  commence  after selection of implementing agencies.

- (iii) Under Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for North Eastern Region, M/s Bharti  Airtel  &  M/s  Bharti  Hexacom  have  been  entrusted  to  set  up  over  2004 mobile  towers  to  connect  about  2128  villages  in  Manipur,  Mizoram,  Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, parts of Assam and National Highways in North-Eastern States. Besides, M/s BSNL has been assigned to install 2,817 mobile towers to provide coverage  in  4,119  uncovered  villages  in  other  parts  of  North  East.  Further, provision  of  2G  &  4G  mobile  services  in  2374  uncovered  villages  and  along National Highways in Meghalaya by installation of 2173 mobile towers has been approved.
- (iv) Under  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  Andaman  &  Nicobar Islands,  setting-up  172  towers  to  provide  2G  &  4G  coverage  in  172  uncovered

villages  and  42  towers  for  coverage  of  entire  129  kilometers  National  Highway (NH) 223 including 80 kilometer falling within Jarawa Tribal Reserve belt.

- (v) Under Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for Lakshadweep Islands, 10 new BTS have been set-up by M/s BSNL.

(c) Funds have been invested by Telecom Service Providers (TSP) in building a world class telecom infrastructure in the country on a regular basis, as per their market needs and financial situation. Over Rupees 44,344 Crore in total has been disbursed by USOF for  augmentation  of  telecom  facilities  including  mobile-towers.  No  reliable  figures  for investment in Chinese telecom infrastructure are available.

(d) The Government is facilitating further expansion of telecommunication facilities for which following initiatives have been taken:

- (i) making available sufficient spectrum for mobile services including auction of 965 MHz in 2016,
- (ii) allowing  Spectrum  Sharing,  Trading  and  Liberalisation  of  administratively allocated spectrum as per the guidelines to facilitate efficient utilisation,
- (iii) notification of Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 in November 2016 for  regulating  underground  infrastructure  (optical  fibre)  and  over-ground infrastructure (mobile towers),
- (iv) permitting sharing of active as well as passive infrastructure by the telecom service providers for achieving higher utilisation efficiency,
- (v) permitting use of government buildings/ estate including Defence Estate for setting-up mobile towers on multiple sharing by TSPs,
- (vi) waiving off requirement of securing Wireless Operating License against each wireless transmitter on annual basis,
- (vii) setting-up  of  indigenous  test-bed  for  5G  technology  in  collaboration  with institutions of national repute.

These  initiatives  have  facilitated  the  industry  to  undertake  faster  expansion  of telecom infrastructure to meet the rapidly growing demand for telecom services.

The  National  Digital  Communications  Policy,  2018  (NDCP)  envisages  Mission 'Connect  India'  for  creating  a  robust  digital  communication  infrastructure  by  providing universal broadband coverage at 50 Mpbs to every citizen, 10 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats and public Wi-Fi hotspots to reach 10 million by 2022. The Mission is aimed at promoting Broadband for All as a tool for socio-economic development while ensuring service quality and environmental sustainability.

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