Lok Sabha Question No. 861 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-26
Subject: 4G Speed
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Asaduddin Owaisi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 861 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 TH  JUNE, 2019

## 4G SPEED

## 861. SHRI ASADUDDIN OWAISI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether India is lagging behind Pakistan, Algeria and other small and poor countries in terms of 4G speed;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether telecom companies are facing financial stress and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the reported financial stress faced by these companies is responsible for slow 4G speed and if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (e) the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  in  this  regard  in  consultation  with Telecom Service Providers; and
- (f) whether MTNL/BSNL are still to launch 4G connections and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor alongwith the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) & (b) As  per  Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of India (TRAI)  analytics portal, operator-wise  average  download  4G  speed  in  the  country  for  period  from  01.12.2018  to 31.05.2019 is as per the Table given below.

| Operator     |   Average Download 4G Speed (in Mbps) |
|--------------|---------------------------------------|
| Reliance Jio |                                  20.8 |
| Airtel       |                                   9.6 |
| Vodafone     |                                   6.7 |
| Idea         |                                   6.3 |

The  above  TRAI  result  is  based  on  the  data  speed  samples  collected  on  a  crowd sourcing basis during speed test initiated by users over the last six months and background tests initiated by TRAI MySpeed App.

No authentic information is available to the Government on the average 4G speeds in other countries.

(c) to (e) The Committee of Secretaries (CoS) of Government of India had discussed the issue relating to stress in balance sheet in several sectors including Telecom, in its meeting held on  29.03.2017.  RBI  Circular  dated  18.04.2017  had  also  directed  the  Banks  to  review  the Telecom sector in light of stressed financial condition. Consequently, an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) was constituted on 16.05.2017 with following terms of reference:

- (i) To  examine  systemic  issues  affecting  viability  and  repayment  capacity  in telecom  sector  and  furnish  recommendations  for  resolution  of  stressed assets,
- (ii) Policy reforms and strategic interventions for Telecom sector.

The Inter-Ministerial Group submitted its report on 31.08.2017. As per the IMG Report, the total debt of the telecom industry was Rs 7.88 lakh crore.

## Outstanding debt Liabilities of telecom operators

| Particulars                          |   Telecom Service Providers | Tower Companies   |   Total |
|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------|---------|
| Indian Debt                          |                      159675 | 18049             |  177724 |
| Foreign Debt                         |                       83918 |                   |   83918 |
| Total Bank/ FI Debt                  |                      243593 | 18049             |  261642 |
| Bank Guarantees                      |                       50000 |                   |   50000 |
| Deferred Spectrum Liabilities of DoT |                      295864 |                   |  295864 |
| Other Third party Liabilities        |                      175464 | 4763              |  180227 |
| Total Outside Liabilities            |                      764922 | 22812             |  787734 |

The key Recommendations of IMG, inter alia , are as follows:

- (i) Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) may be given a one-time opportunity to opt for higher number of installments (16) instead of the then permitted 10 installments.
- (ii) DoT may issue appropriate clarification that only the gain or profit arising from trade of spectrum shall constitute as part of revenue for the purpose of calculation of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).
- (iii) One-year  MCLR  of  SBI  may  be  adopted  with  effect  from  the  date  of  its introduction by RBI i.e. April 01, 2016 in place of PLR.

Action taken by DoT on the IMG Report is as given below:

- (i) TSPs  have  been  given  one-time  opportunity  to  opt  for  higher  number  of installments  (maximum 16  installments)  instead  of  currently  permitted  10 installments.
- (ii) One-year MCLR of SBI has been adopted with effect from the date of its introduction by RBI i.e. April 01, 2016 in place of PLR.

(Rs. in Crore)

There is no evidence to suggest that 4G Speed provided by telecom companies has any linkage with the financial stress faced by the telecom companies.

(f) BSNL  has  already  started  4G  services  in  its  licensed  service  areas  (LSAs)  by  using existing spectrum of 2100 MHz band, and, 5921 numbers of 4G BTSs have been commissioned so  far.  MTNL  is  yet  to  launch  4G  services  in  both  of  its  LSAs.  BSNL  and  MTNL  have requested  DoT  to  grant  additional  spectrum  with  government  support  for  providing  4G services. The above said requests have been included in the revival plan of BSNL and MTNL.

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