Lok Sabha Question No. 3819 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-11
Subject: Telephone Exchanges
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Supriya Sadanand Sule, Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, DNV Senthilkumar. S., Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3819 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH   DECEMBER, 2019

## TELEPHONE EXCHANGES

## 3819.   SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE:

SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR S.:

SHRI SHRINIWAS PATIL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  existing  telephone  exchange  in  urban  and  rural  areas  of  the  country  as  on  date State/UT-wise;
- (b) the financial allocation made for the development of telephone exchange during each of the last three years and the current year;
- (c) the State-wise and the location-wise details of the telephone exchanges which are not functioning as on date;
- (d) whether  lack  of  telephone  exchange  in  rural  and  underdeveloped  areas  of  the  country  has  affected smooth communication network and if so, the details thereof and the corrective steps taken in this regard;
- (e) whether most of the telephone exchanges have not been modernized and upgraded and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the steps taken in this regard; and
- (f) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to ensure smooth functioning of telephone exchanges and upgradation of the existing exchanges with the latest technique?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

- (a) As per the information received from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the details of telephone exchanges in urban and rural areas of the country are placed at Annexure-I .
- (b) There  has  been  no  financial  allocation  made  by  the  Department  in  the  last  three  years  for  the development of telephone exchanges, while Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) make financial allocation for the development of telephone exchanges based on their techno-commercial considerations.

- (c) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has reported non-functioning of 7 exchanges in two License Service  Areas  (LSAs)  namely  Karnataka  (Masaguppi)  and  West  Bengal  (Baripara,  Patikabari,  Gosaba, Karanjali, Rasakundu and Barabazar).
- (d) No, Sir. With the mobile services covering almost 95% population of the country including people residing in rural and underdeveloped areas, there has not been any effect on communication network due to lack of exchanges.
- (e) The TSPs keep on upgrading and modernizing their telephone exchanges in line with the technological developments based on their business considerations.
- (f) The following steps are being taken by BSNL to upgrade the existing exchanges:
- (i) BSNL has planned to replace  CDOT TDM Telephone Exchanges by Internet Protocol (IP) based exchanges and 98% project has completed.
- (ii) BSNL  has  also  planned  to  replace  New  Technology  TDM  switches  by  IP  based  Next Generation Network (NGN) exchanges. Total 9.37 million lines are to be replaced. The work for  replacement/  upgradation  of  5.47  million  lines  has  already  been  completed  and  the replacement/ upgradation of 2.3 million lines are in process.

## Details of the existing Telephone Exchanges in urban and rural areas of the country as on September, 2019

| S.No   | Name of License Service Area                        | Rural   | Urban   | Total   |
|--------|-----------------------------------------------------|---------|---------|---------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh (Excluding Telangana)                | 1,392   | 294     | 1,686   |
| 1      | Telangana                                           | 667     | 299     | 966     |
| 2      | Assam                                               | 363     | 182     | 545     |
| 3      | Bihar (Excluding Jharkhand)                         | 907     | 215     | 1,122   |
| 3      | Jharkhand                                           | 247     | 180     | 427     |
| 4      | Delhi                                               | 0       | 382     | 382     |
| 5      | Gujarat                                             | 1,649   | 553     | 2,202   |
| 6      | Haryana                                             | 699     | 239     | 938     |
| 7      | Himachal Pradesh                                    | 563     | 82      | 645     |
| 8      | Jammu &Kashmir                                      | 183     | 111     | 294     |
| 9      | Karnataka                                           | 2,118   | 614     | 2,732   |
| 10     | Kerala                                              | 1,109   | 274     | 1,383   |
| 11     | Kolkata                                             | 0       | 466     | 466     |
| 12     | Madhya Pradesh (Excluding Chhattisgarh)             | 1,576   | 698     | 2,274   |
| 12     | Chhattisgarh                                        | 313     | 214     | 527     |
| 13     | Maharashtra (Excluding Mumbai &Goa)                 | 3,079   | 660     | 3,739   |
| 13     | Goa                                                 | 79      | 64      | 143     |
| 14     | Mumbai                                              | 0       | 301     | 301     |
| 15     | Arunachal Pradesh                                   | 66      | 26      | 92      |
|        | Manipur                                             | 25      | 18      | 43      |
|        | Meghalaya                                           | 29      | 22      | 51      |
|        | Mizoram                                             | 29      | 26      | 55      |
|        | Nagaland                                            | 41      | 20      | 61      |
|        | Tripura                                             | 51      | 31      | 82      |
| 16     | Orissa                                              | 802     | 278     | 1,080   |
| 17     | Punjab                                              | 1,115   | 293     | 1,408   |
| 18     | Rajasthan                                           | 1,302   | 409     | 1,711   |
| 19     | Tamil Nadu (Excluding Chennai)                      | 1,183   | 838     | 2,021   |
| 19     | Chennai                                             | 82      | 271     | 353     |
| 20     | Uttar Pradesh East                                  | 860     | 532     | 1,392   |
| 21     | Uttar Pradesh West (Excluding Uttarakhand)          | 499     | 452     | 951     |
|        | Uttarakhand                                         | 259     | 125     | 384     |
| 22     | West Bengal (Excluding Andaman &Nicobar and Sikkim) | 894     | 222     | 1,116   |
|        | Andaman &Nicobar                                    | 44      | 8       | 52      |
|        | Sikkim                                              | 18      | 14      | 32      |
|        | Total                                               | 22,243  | 9,413   | 31,656  |

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