Lok Sabha Question No. 893 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-07
Subject: Wi-Fi Facility in Panchayats and Municipal Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: M. K. RAGHAVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 893 TO BE ANSWERED ON 7 TH  FEBRUARY, 2018

## WI-FI FACILITY IN PANCHAYATS AND MUNICIPAL AREAS

893. SHRI M.K. RAGHAVAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  install  Wi-Fi  in  all  the  Panchayats  and Municipal areas of the country;
- (b) if so, the details and the status thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the time by which the entire State of Kerala will be provided with Wi-Fi facility and the steps taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (d) the funds allocated and spent for the aforesaid purposes?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (c) BharatNet project is being implemented to provide broadband connectivity  to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) approximately 2,50,000 in the country. As  part  of  this  project,  the  last  mile  connectivity,  through  Wi-Fi  or  any  other  suitable broadband  technology,  is  to  be  provided  at  all  the  GPs.  Bharat  Broadband  Network Limited (BBNL), the executing agency, has floated a tender on 26.12.2017 for selecting the agencies for implementing and operating the project in the country. The project is targeted  to  be  completed  in  the  country,  including  in  Kerala,  by  March  2019.  In  the municipal  areas,  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  are  providing  various  telecom services including Wi-fi services as per their commercial decision.

Other  steps  being  undertaken  for  providing  broadband  services  through  Wi-Fi hotspots are as under:

- i. Wi-Fi  Choupals  are  being  set  up  in  5,000  GPs  by  Common  Service Centre-Special  Purpose  Vehicle  (CSC-SPV)  under  Ministry  Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) (Status in Annexure-I).

- ii. Public Wi-Fi hotspots are being set up by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)  at  its  25,000  Telephone  Exchanges  in  rural  areas  funded  by USOF (Status in Annexure-II).
- iii. As a pilot project RailTel is setting up Wi-fi hotspots in 200 rural railway stations. Wi-fi hotspots in 53 railway stations have already been provided.
- iv. As a pilot project BSNL is setting up Wi-fi hotspots across 200 GPs in the country.
4. (d) The funds allocated and disbursed for setting up of Wi-fi hotspots is as under:
- i. For the 'Wi-fi Choupal' at 5,000 GPs by CSC-SPV Rs. 100 Crore have  been  approved,  out  of  which  Rs.  90  Crore  have  been disbursed under this project from the USOF.
- ii. For providing 25,000 public Wi-fi hotspots at telephone exchanges of BSNL in rural areas, Rs. 942.34 Crore have been approved out of which, Rs. 187.50 Crore have been disbursed under this project from the USOF.
- iii. For  providing  Wi-fi  services  at  200  railway  stations  by  RailTel  in rural areas Rs. 27.77 Crore have been approved to be funded from the USOF. No funds have been disbursed till now.
- iv. For  providing  Wi-fi  hotspots  at  200  GPs  by  BSNL  Rs.  15  Crore have been approved to be funded from the USOF. No funds have been disbursed till now.

Contd…….3/-

Annexure-I Status of Wi-Fi Choupal through CSC-SPV (as on 31.12.2017)

| SL. No   | No. of GPs where equipment setup /Installed   | No. of GPs where service delivery commenced   |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| 1        | 282 30                                        |                                               |
| 2        | 12 10                                         |                                               |
| 3        | 393                                           | 134                                           |
| 4        | 61                                            | 61                                            |
| 5        | 355                                           | 215                                           |
| 6        | 163                                           | 91                                            |
| 7        | 1316                                          | 307                                           |
| 8        | 117                                           | 76                                            |
| 9        | 90                                            | 42                                            |
| 10       | 81                                            | 68                                            |
| 11       | 1811                                          | 124                                           |
| 12       | 353                                           | 281                                           |
| Total    | 5034                                          | 1439                                          |

Contd…….4/-

## Status of Public Wi-Fi hotspots being set up by BSNL at its 25,000 Telephone Exchanges in rural areas (as on 15.01.2018)

| Telecom Circle                                | Total No. of Exchange   |   No. of Exchange where equipment setup /Installed |   No. of Exchange where service delivery commenced |
|-----------------------------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| Assam                                         | 398                     |                                                115 |                                                115 |
| Bihar                                         | 950                     |                                                  0 |                                                  0 |
| Jharkhand                                     | 199                     |                                                 14 |                                                 14 |
| NE I (Tripura, Meghalaya & Mizoram)           | 129                     |                                                 35 |                                                 34 |
| NE II (Nagaland, Manipur & Arunachal Pradesh) | 57                      |                                                 36 |                                                 34 |
| Odisha                                        | 801                     |                                                 42 |                                                 32 |
| West Bengal                                   | 1112                    |                                                  9 |                                                  9 |
| Haryana                                       | 791                     |                                                124 |                                                 93 |
| Himachal Pradesh                              | 719                     |                                                140 |                                                128 |
| Jammu & Kashmir                               | 205                     |                                                 23 |                                                 19 |
| Punjab                                        | 1208                    |                                                188 |                                                165 |
| Rajasthan                                     | 1679                    |                                                 48 |                                                 31 |
| Uttar Pradesh East                            | 1550                    |                                                143 |                                                132 |
| Uttar Pradesh West                            | 873                     |                                                182 |                                                161 |
| Uttarakhand                                   | 429                     |                                                 89 |                                                 72 |
| Chhattisgarh                                  | 300                     |                                                 20 |                                                 20 |
| Gujarat                                       | 1850                    |                                                 85 |                                                 83 |
| Madhya Pradesh                                | 850                     |                                                 47 |                                                 12 |
| Maharashtra                                   | 3800                    |                                                 50 |                                                 50 |
| Karnataka                                     | 2150                    |                                                113 |                                                113 |
| Andhra Pradesh                                |                         |                                                 50 |                                                 50 |
| Telangana                                     | 2650                    |                                                 50 |                                                 50 |
| Kerala                                        | 1070                    |                                                136 |                                                136 |
| Chennai                                       | 80                      |                                                 20 |                                                 20 |
| Tamil Nadu                                    | 1150                    |                                                 50 |                                                 50 |
| Total                                         | 25000                   |                                               1809 |                                               1623 |

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