Lok Sabha Question No. 4626 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-24
Subject: BSNL Network in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4626 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24 TH  MARCH, 2021

## BSNL NETWORK IN RURAL AREAS

4626.   COL. RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of BSNL's plan to resolve the lack of network coverage in rural areas and the details of areas with no telecom service providers, district-wise;
- (b) the  details  of  coverage  of  Bharat  Broadband  Network  Limited  (BBNL)  in  Gram Panchayats, State/UT-wise and the number of Gram Panchayats where the services of BBNL are operated State/UT-wise;
- (c) the number of users utilising the BBNL service, State/UT-wise and the amount of data consumption during each of the last three years, State/UT-wise along with the amount of data consumption in the Rajasthan Gram Panchayat-wise;
- (d) whether all rural areas in the country are covered by rural exchanges and if so, the details thereof and if not, the details of areas not covered thereunder, State/UT-wise; and
- (e) the  downtime  of  all  rural  exchanges,  State/UT-wise  and  the  downtime  of  all  rural exchanges  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  district-wise  along  with  the  steps  taken  by  the Government to decrease this downtime?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL)  has  reported  that  on  the  basis  of  technocommercial  viability,  BSNL  is  progressively  adding  more  number  of  Base  Transceiver Stations (BTSs) in rural as well as urban areas under various network expansion phases and thereby increasing mobile coverage in more number of villages and urban areas across all its Licensed Service Areas (LSAs).

The  State/UT-wise  details  of  inhabited  villages  with  no  mobile  connectivity  is  at Annexure-I.

- (b) Under the BharatNet project, broadband connectivity is to be provided to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) (approx. 2,50,000) in the country mainly through Optical Fibre Cable. The State/UT-wise details of number of Gram Panchayats which are service ready is at Annexure -II.

(c) The State/UT-wise number of users utilising the Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) service,  the  amount  of  data  consumption  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and average data consumption per GP is at Annexure-III.

(d) The  circle-wise  number  of  villages  where  BSNL  exchanges  are  working  is  at Annexure - IV .

(e) BSNL has informed that its Landline services are working satisfactorily in the LSAs and in general meeting all the Quality of Service (QoS) parameters prescribed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Following steps have been taken by BSNL for further improving the quality of service:

- i. Monitoring  of  the  network  has  been  strengthened  to  ensure  performance  as  per  the quality-of-service parameters prescribed by TRAI.
- ii. Rehabilitation of outdoor network is regularly done to reduce the landline faults.
- iii. Timely  availability  of  store  items  like  cable,  drop-wire  to  field  units  of  BSNL  to maintain and improve the network.
- iv. Monsoon control room is set up in the circles during monsoon season to monitor the functioning of landline and broadband services.
- v. Round  the  clock  Toll  free  complaint  booking  mechanism.  A  stringent  monitoring procedure is being adopted for prompt and timely clearance of customers' complaints through exclusive section at all level of the organization.
- vi. Conversion of existing technology switches to state of art Next Generation network.

Annexure-I

## Annexure  referred  to  in  Part  (a)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.4626  for answer on 24.03.2021

## State/UT-wise details of inhabited villages with no mobile connectivity

| Sr. No.   | State/UT                 | No. of villages with no mobile connectivity   |   No. of villages with no mobile connectivity |
|-----------|--------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andaman &Nicobar Islands |                                               |                                           151 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh           |                                               |                                          1787 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh        |                                               |                                          2223 |
| 4         | Assam                    |                                               |                                           616 |
| 5         | Bihar                    |                                               |                                           245 |
| 6         | Chhattisgarh             |                                               |                                          1847 |
| 7         | Goa                      |                                               |                                            28 |
| 8         | Gujarat                  |                                               |                                           512 |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh         |                                               |                                           383 |
| 10        | Jammu &Kashmir           |                                               |                                           154 |
|           | Jharkhand                | 11                                            |                                          1144 |
| 12        | Karnataka                |                                               |                                           441 |
| 13        | Ladakh                   |                                               |                                            64 |
| 14        | Lakshadweep              |                                               |                                             1 |
| 15        | Madhya Pradesh           |                                               |                                          2612 |
| 16        | Maharashtra              |                                               |                                          2328 |
| 17        | Manipur                  |                                               |                                           463 |
| 18        | Meghalaya                |                                               |                                          1674 |
| 19        | Mizoram                  |                                               |                                           206 |
| 20        | Nagaland                 |                                               |                                           144 |
| 21        | Odisha                   |                                               |                                          6099 |
| 22        | Rajasthan                |                                               |                                           941 |
| 23        | Sikkim                   |                                               |                                            10 |
| 24        | Tamil Nadu               |                                               |                                            49 |
| 25        | Telangana                |                                               |                                           153 |
| 26        | Tripura                  |                                               |                                            31 |
| 27        | Uttarakhand              |                                               |                                           426 |
| 28        | Uttar Pradesh            |                                               |                                           327 |
|           | West Bengal              | 29                                            |                                             8 |
| Total     | Total                    | Total                                         |                                         25067 |

Annexure  referred  to  in  Part  (b)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.4626  for answer on 24.03.2021

State/UT-wise details of service ready Gram Panchayats ( GPs)

| S. No.   | State        |   No. of Service ready GPs (including BHQ) |
|----------|--------------|--------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Assam        |                                       1627 |
| 2        | Bihar        |                                       8824 |
| 3        | Chhattisgarh |                                       7413 |
| 4        | Haryana      |                                       6203 |
| 5        | J&K          |                                       1174 |
| 6        | Karnataka    |                                       6247 |
| 7        | Kerala       |                                       1129 |
| 8        | MP           |                                      15156 |
| 9        | Maharashtra  |                                      19082 |
| 10       | Punjab       |                                      12795 |
| 11       | Rajasthan    |                                       8970 |
| 12       | UP(E)        |                                      20926 |
| 13       | UP(W)        |                                      10403 |
| 14       | Uttarakhand  |                                       1544 |
| 15       | West Bengal  |                                       2455 |
| 16       | Sikkim       |                                         28 |
| 17       | A&N          |                                         18 |
| 18       | Chandigarh   |                                         13 |
| 19       | Arunachal    |                                        650 |
| 20       | Nagaland     |                                        222 |
| 21       | Manipur      |                                       1424 |
| 22       | Mizoram      |                                        409 |
| 23       | Tripura      |                                        735 |
| 24       | Meghalaya    |                                        534 |
| 25       | Gujarat      |                                      13398 |
| 26       | D&D          |                                         18 |
| 27       | D&NH         |                                         21 |
| 28       | Puducherry   |                                        101 |
| 29       | Tamil Nadu   |                                          0 |
| 30       | AP           |                                       1708 |
| 31       | Telangana    |                                       2047 |
| 32       | Odisha       |                                       5763 |
| 33       | Jharkhand    |                                       3642 |
| 34       | HP           |                                        371 |
| 35       | Lakshadweep  |                                          0 |
|          | Total        |                                     155050 |

Annexure referred to in Part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.4626 for answer on 24.03.2021

Details  of  number  of  users  utilising  BBNL  services,  State/UT  wise  and  amount  of  data consumption

| S. No.   | State                | No. of GPs where Wi-Fi   | No. of Wi-Fi Subscribers   | No. of FTTH connections Provided   | Data Consumption ( in GB)   | Data Consumption ( in GB)   | Data Consumption ( in GB)   | Data Consumption per GP per   |
|----------|----------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|
|          |                      | installed                |                            |                                    |                             | 2019-20 (Jan 20- March 20)  | 2020-21 April 20- Jan 21    | month (GB)                    |
| 1        | Assam                | 0                        | 0                          | 5837                               |                             | 0                           | 1609                        | 1.25                          |
| 2        | Bihar                | 5347                     | 42912                      | 32654                              |                             | 6147                        | 324576                      | 21.25                         |
| 3        | Chhattisgarh         | 3664                     | 47853                      | 17406                              |                             | 1164                        | 461173                      | 30.20                         |
| 4        | Haryana              | 5953                     | 95504                      | 33149                              |                             | 2125                        | 1032611                     | 59.41                         |
| 5        | J&K                  | 1138                     | 4056                       | 780                                |                             | 0                           | 62622                       | 17.48                         |
| 6        | Karnataka            | 5358                     | 106629                     | 36639                              |                             | 4294                        | 111302                      | 7.19                          |
| 7        | Kerala               | 1047                     | 56431                      | 2624                               |                             | 123449                      | 537920                      | 43.65                         |
| 8        | MP                   | 11538                    | 132485                     | 55021                              |                             | 4347                        | 129286                      | 5.55                          |
| 9        | Maharashtra          | 10990                    | 88615                      | 66055                              |                             | 79748                       | 529714                      | 12.39                         |
| 10       | Punjab               | 7891                     | 29428                      | 38844                              |                             | 0                           | 1002993                     | 26.08                         |
| 11       | Rajasthan            | 8124                     | 13408                      | 2376                               |                             | 2866                        | 32530                       | 0.53                          |
| 12       | UP                   | 26897                    | 787119                     | 105555                             |                             | 92031                       | 2496747                     | 65.11                         |
| 13       | Uttarakhand          | 1251                     | 78760                      | 8302                               |                             | 33640                       | 532738                      | 86.78                         |
| 14       | West Bengal          | 1377                     | 0                          | 6641                               |                             | 0                           | 4138                        | 0.90                          |
| 15       | Sikkim               | 0                        | 0                          | 8                                  |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 16       | A&N islands          | 0                        | 0                          | 2                                  |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 17       | Chandigarh           | 12                       | 51                         | 55                                 |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 18       | Arunachal Pradesh    | 208                      | 0                          | 24                                 |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 19       | Nagaland             | 0                        | 0                          | 52                                 |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 20       | Manipur              | 161                      | 51                         | 100                                |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 21       | Mizoram              | 0                        | 0                          | 21                                 |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 22       | Tripura              | 574                      | 127                        | 2923                               |                             | 0                           | 10481                       | 6.27                          |
| 23       | Meghalaya            | 70                       | 641                        | 100                                |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 24       | Gujarat              | 3960                     | 0                          | 33829                              |                             | 0                           | 379466                      | 14.36                         |
| 25       | Daman & Diu          | 20                       | 0                          | 32                                 |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 26       | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 21                       | 0                          | 44                                 |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 27       | Puducherry           | 81                       | 7361                       | 785                                |                             | 291                         | 8159                        | 9.33                          |
| 28       | Tamil Nadu           | 0                        | 0                          | 0                                  |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
| 29       | Andhra Pradesh       | 1570                     | 1741                       | 7356                               |                             | 0                           | 103445                      | 17.33                         |
| 30       | Telangana            | 1997                     | 0                          | 2278                               |                             | 0                           | 106725                      | 14.42                         |
| 31       | Odisha               | 2514                     | 19949                      | 21022                              |                             | 565                         | 214898                      | 15.76                         |
| 32       | Jharkhand            | 2383                     | 38727                      | 15695                              |                             | 81                          | 124203                      | 15.52                         |
| 33       | HP                   | 254                      | 1301                       | 1070                               |                             | 7                           | 8222                        | 5.82                          |
| 34       | Lakshadweep          | 0                        | 0                          | 0                                  |                             | 0                           | 0                           | 0                             |
|          | Total                | 104400                   | 1553149                    | 497279                             |                             | 350755                      | 8215558                     |                               |

## Annexure referred to in Part (d) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4626 for answer on 24.03.2021

## Circle-wise number of villages in which BSNL Landline Exchanges are working

| S. No.   | Circle                      |   Number of villages in which BSNL Landline Exchanges are working |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman and Nicobar Islands |                                                                45 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh              |                                                              1289 |
| 3        | Assam                       |                                                               394 |
| 4        | Bihar                       |                                                               818 |
| 5        | Chennai Telecom District    |                                                                83 |
| 6        | Tamil Nadu                  |                                                              1062 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh                |                                                               298 |
| 8        | Gujarat                     |                                                              1450 |
| 9        | Haryana                     |                                                               558 |
| 10       | Himachal Pradesh            |                                                               529 |
| 11       | Jammu and Kashmir           |                                                               173 |
| 12       | Jharkhand                   |                                                               289 |
| 13       | Calcutta                    |                                                                 0 |
| 14       | West Bengal                 |                                                               841 |
| 15       | Karnataka                   |                                                              1836 |
| 16       | Kerala                      |                                                              1097 |
| 17       | Madhya Pradesh              |                                                              1542 |
| 18       | Maharashtra                 |                                                              2894 |
| 19       | North East 1                |                                                               103 |
| 20       | North East 2                |                                                                76 |
| 21       | Odisha                      |                                                               680 |
| 22       | Punjab                      |                                                              1033 |
| 23       | Rajasthan                   |                                                              1110 |
| 24       | Telangana                   |                                                               609 |
| 25       | Uttar Pradesh East          |                                                               882 |
| 26       | Uttar Pradesh West          |                                                               486 |
| 27       | Uttarakhand                 |                                                               231 |
|          | Total                       |                                                             20408 |

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