Lok Sabha Question No. 3886 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-08-09
Subject: Reducing Customer Base of MTNL
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: PRABHAS KUMAR SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS

## DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3886 TO BE ANSWERED ON 9 TH   AUGUST, 2017

## REDUCING CUSTOMER BASE OF MTNL

## 3886. DR. PRABHAS KUMAR SINGH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has an estimate of reducing consumer base of MTNL in Delhi and Mumbai and if so, the details thereof during each of the last three years and the current year;
- (b) the reasons for poor signal strength across the cities of Delhi and Mumbai; and
- (c) the measures taken by the Government to revive the dwindling customer base?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The  details  of  subscriber  base  of  Mahanagar  Telephone  Nigam  Limited (MTNL) is as under:
- (b) MTNL is meeting all network related benchmarks of Quality of Service (QoS) prescribed  by  Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  for  mobile  services  in Delhi and Mumbai.
- (c) MTNL is taking following measures to further improve the telecom services and increase its customer base:

| Status   | Landline   | Landline   | Landline   | Mobile (GSM)   | Mobile (GSM)   | Mobile (GSM)   |
|----------|------------|------------|------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
| as on    | Delhi      | Mumbai     | Total      | Delhi          | Mumbai         | Total          |
| 31.03.14 | 16,01,789  | 19,27,013  | 35,28,802  | 22,71,638      | 9,73,451       | 32,45,089      |
| 31.03.15 | 16,09,278  | 19,42,393  | 35,51,671  | 23,13,943      | 11,69,523      | 34,83,466      |
| 31.03.16 | 16,15,433  | 18,88,655  | 35,04,088  | 23,18,460      | 12,42,396      | 35,60,856      |
| 31.03.17 | 16,01,487  | 18,60,887  | 34,62,374  | 23,27,203      | 13,00,117      | 36,27,320      |
| 30.06.17 | 15,86,330  | 18,47,835  | 34,34,165  | 23,20,627      | 13,02,170      | 36,22,797      |

## For landline/broadband services-

1.  Upgradation/Rehabilitation of external plant.
2.  Regular change of drop wires to make it joint free.
3.  Change of faulty instrument/ Modems.
4.  Installation of DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) nodes near the subscriber premises to reduce loop length.

5.  Monitoring at different stages so that faults can be attended at the earliest.
6.  Regular check of subscribers wiring.
7.  Close coordination with other agencies during digging work to avoid damage to underground cables.
8.  The theft prone routes are being patrolled in the night.   Cable theft alarms are being installed on primary cables.
9.  Fault clearance process has been made customer friendly.  System generated SMS is being sent to concerned lineman after allotment of  fault.

## For Mobile service-

1.  Expansion of 3G network by adding 1080 3G-BTS in MTNL, Delhi.
2.  Upgradation of existing 3G network in MTNL Delhi and Mumbai to make it a high speed network of 'HSPA+version' . After the proposed upgradation, the customers  will  get  a  download  speed  of  21.1Mbps  &  upload  speed  of  5.76 Mbps.
3.  Introduction of new frequency plan.
4.  Optimization of cell level parameters.
5.  Preventive maintenance to minimize the hardware faults.
6.  On line monitoring of Base Transceiver Station (BTS) outages.
7.  Optimization of Radio Frequency (RF) network regularly.

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