Lok Sabha Question No. 2069 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-07
Subject: Wi-Fi Hotspots for Broadband Access
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: ANJU BALA, Tejpratap Singh,Yadav, B. SREERAMULU

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2069 TO BE ANSWERED ON 7 th  MARCH, 2018

## WI-FI HOTSPOTS FOR BROADBAND ACCESS

2069.  SHRIMATI ANJU BALA: SHRI TEJ PRATAP SINGH YADAV: SHRI B. SRIRAMULU:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  to  setup  five  lakh  wi-fi  hotspots  which  will  provide  fast broadband access to five crore rural citizens and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  planned  to  establish  an  indigenous  5G  Test  Bed  to harness the benefit of emerging new technology and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government  for creation and  augmentation  of telecom infrastructure in the country?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) BharatNet Project is to provide broadband connectivity to all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) (approx.) in the country. Under this project, the Last mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi (2 Access Points per GP) or any other suitable broadband technology, is to be provided at all the GPs (approx. 2.5 lakh) in the country.
- (b) The Government is planning to set up 'Indigenous 5G Test Bed' in India in collaboration with  Indian  Institutes  of  Technology  (IITs)  and  Indian  Institute  of  Science  (IISc). The  project envisages  setting  up  of  end-to-end  Open  5G  Test  Bed  for  Indian  companies  &  academia  in distributed architecture model.
- (c) The Government has taken the following steps for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure in the country:
- A. Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is being utilised for creation and augmentation of Telecom network, the steps taken include the following:

## I. BharatNet Project

BharatNet Project is being implemented in a phased manner to connect all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) by broadband in the country. The Phase-I has been completed, and as on 25.02.2018,  a  total  of  1,12,677  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  have  been  connected  by  laying 2,65,296 km Optical Fibre Cable (OFC). The number of Service Ready GPs is 1,03,279. 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.

## II. Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for the North-Eastern Region (NER):

CTDP for NER, which comprises setting up of mobile towers to provide mobile connectivity to villages is being implemented with USOF Funding. USOF has signed an agreement with BSNL to install 2817 mobile towers for providing mobile coverage in 4119 uncovered villages with an estimated cost of Rs. 2258 crore.

Agreements  have  also  been  signed  with  M/s  Bharti  Airtel  Limited  and  M/s  Bharti  Hexacom Limited to install 2004 mobile towers for providing mobile coverage in 2128 villages and along National Highways in rest of NER with an estimated cost of Rs. 1656 crore.

## III. Provision of mobile services in Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)affected areas

Out of 2355 towers to be set up, 2329 mobile towers have been set up in LWE affected areas with USOF Funding to provide mobile coverage in uncovered LWE affected areas.

## IV. Augmentation of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) Network between District Headquarter (DHQ) and Block Headquarters (BHQs) in North Eastern Region

OFC network augmentation between the Block HQ and Districts HQ envisages creation of OFC Infrastructure in North-East Region. The schemes 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.

## V. Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  (CTDP)  for  Andaman  &  Nicobar Islands:

## a) Satellite Bandwidth Augmentation for Andaman & Nicobar Islands:

Satellite  bandwidth  for  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands  has  been  augmented  from  260  Mbps  to 1320 Mbps by BSNL.

## b) Submarine OFC Connectivity between Mainland India (Chennai) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands:

A  Project  on  Submarine  Optical  Fibre  Cable  (OFC)  connectivity  from  mainland  India (Chennai) to Andaman & Nicobar Islands is being implemented.

## B. Other telecom initiatives:

a) The  licenses  granted  to  the  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  by  the  Department  of Telecommunications,  prescribe  minimum  roll  out  obligations  to  be  fulfilled  within  specified timeframe.  However,  the  TSPs  are  not  mandated  to  cover  all  the  urban/  rural  areas.  After meeting the minimum roll out obligations, the TSPs are free to deploy their network for providing additional coverage as per their business decision. The TSPs provide mobile telephone services using appropriate technologies (viz. 2G, 3G and/or 4G) to comply with their minimum roll out obligations and thereafter cover the geographical areas as per their business decision.

Government has allocated 965 Megahertz spectrum through auction in October 2016 to various telecom service providers for access services. Telecom Service Providers are continuously rolling out their networks using this spectrum resulting into the increase in internet connectivity and speed in the country.

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