Lok Sabha Question No. 1628 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-13
Subject: Telecom Services in Rural and Remote Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: LAXMAN GILUWA, NISHIKANT  DUBEY, RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1628 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 TH  FEBRUARY, 2019

## TELECOM SERVICES IN RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS

- †1628. SHRI LAXMAN GILUWA: SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY: SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the various telecommunication services including mobile and internet facilities are not satisfactory specially in the rural, hilly/remote and tribal areas of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the  number  of  such  areas  with  poor  telecom services/connectivity, State/UT-wise including Jharkhand; and
- (c) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to improve these services?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Quality of Service is monitored by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). As per their report released on quarterly basis, the telecom services (including mobile and internet services) are  by  and  large  satisfactory.  It  is  also  satisfactory  in  rural,  hilly/remote  and  tribal  areas  as  per Quality of Service (QoS) report released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in respect of basic services.
- (b) The Quality of Services benchmarks for telecommunication services are notified by TRAI under TRAI Act, 1997 at the level of License Service Area (LSA) as a whole. These LSAs cover all States and Union Territories of India.

In order to maintain tele-connectivity, performance benchmarks have been prescribed for upkeep of telephone networks and services which includes:

- (i) For Basic services: At least 75 % of the faults to be repaired by next working day and 100 % of the faults to be repaired within 7 days for rural and hilly areas.

As per the TRAI's Performance Monitoring Report for the quarter ending September 2018, all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have complied to these benchmarks.

- (ii) For mobile services, the network related key benchmarks include:

a. 'Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) Accumulated downtime' (not available for service) which measures the downtime of the BTS including its transmission links/ circuits during  the  period  of  a  month  but  excludes  all  planned  service  downtime  for  any maintenance,(benchmark ≤ 2%).

c. 'Call  Set-up  Success  Rate  (within  Licensee's  own  network)'  is  ratio  of established calls to call attempts in TSP's network, (benchmark ≥95%).

d. 'Traffic  Channel  (TCH)  Congestion'  is  a  measure  of  congestion  in  the network's Traffic Channel(s) which carry user's speech or data, (benchmark ≤2%).

e. 'Call Drop Rate': TRAI, through 'The Standards for Quality of Service for Basic (Wireline)  and  Cellular  Mobile  Telephone  Services( Fifth  Amendment)  Regulations, 2017 '  dated  18 th August,  2017  has  prescribed  two  new  parameters  for  assessment  of Drop  Call  Rate  in  a  mobile  network,  viz.  'Drop  Call  Rate  (DCR)  Spatial  Distribution Measure'  with  benchmark  value  <2%  and  'DCR  Temporal  Distribution  Measure'  with benchmark value <3% effective from 1st October 2017.

Drop Call Rate (DCR) Spatial Distribution Measure (benchmark ≤ 2%) implies that  at-least  90%  of  Cells  in  the  network  should  perform  better  than  specified  2% benchmark on at-least 90% of the days in a quarter.

DCR  Temporal  Distribution  Measure (benchmark  ≤ 3%)  will  give  confidence that  on  at-least  90%  of  Days  in  a  quarter,  network  performed  better  than  specified  3% benchmark for at-least 97% of the Cells.  (A Base Transceiver Station (BTS) installed by a TSP has normally 3 Cells).

The parameters prevailing earlier assessed the performance of mobile networks for the License Service Area (LSA) as a whole. However, the revised parameters, effective from  1 st October  2017,  are  more  stringent  as  they  give  better  insight  into  the  network performance  of  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  at  each  Base  Transceiver  Station (BTS) level.

As per latest report of TRAI for the quarter ending September 2018, all TSPs are largely complying with the TRAI's benchmarks despite rapid increase in traffic volume and more stringent benchmarks as detailed at Annexure-I.

- (iii) For Broadband services: At least 90% of faults to be repaired by next working day and at least 99% of faults to be repaired within 3 working day. As per the TRAI's Performance Monitoring  Report for  the  quarter  ending  September  2018,  all  the  service  providers  are largely complying with the benchmark.
- (c)          TRAI has taken the following remedial measures to bring improvement:
-  Close  monitoring  of  performance  of  service  providers,  against  the  benchmarks  for various Quality of Service Parameters laid down by TRAI, through periodic reports from service providers.
-  Follow up action with service providers for improving quality of service.
-  Audit and Assessment of Quality of Service through independent agencies.
-  Publication of results of Audit and Assessment of Quality of Service, including for Call Drop parameters on TRAI website namely www.trai.gov.in for information of stakeholders, forcing the service providers to improve the service.
-  TRAI regularly undertakes the drive tests of mobile service in selected cities, highways and  railway  routes  to  assess  the  Quality  of  Service  and  coverage  around  the  areas covered in  the  drive  test  routes.  The  result  of  Drive  tests  are  shared  with  the  service providers  and  published  on  TRAI  website  namely  www.trai.gov.in  for  information  of stakeholders, forcing the service providers to improve the service.

-  TRAI is already implementing its plan for undertaking operator assisted drive tests in all the  Long  Distance  Charging  Areas  (LDCAs)  of  the  country  under  the  supervision  of TRAI's appointed independent agency and officers of TRAI. This will give an indication of the coverage, voice quality and call drop issues in the various parts of the country so that the service providers could take necessary action to address the problem in these areas.
-  Imposition of financial disincentives for non-compliance with the benchmarks for Quality of Services parameters.

## Performance of QoS Parameters for Cellular Mobile Service

| Sr. No.   | License Service Area             | Telecom Service Provider   | BTS Accumula- ted down- time   | Call Set- up Success Rate   | Traffic Channel Congestion   | Call Drop Rate [Network_ QSD(90,90)]   | Call Drop Rate [Network_ QTD(97,90)]   |
|-----------|----------------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
|           |                                  | Benchmark(s)               | ≤ 2%                           | ≥ 95%                       | ≤ 2%                         | ≤ 2%                                   | ≤ 3%                                   |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                   | Airtel                     | 0.16                           | 97.87                       | 0.71                         | 1.69                                   | 2.33                                   |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                   | BSNL                       | 0.92                           | 98.15                       | 1.36                         | 1.85                                   | 1.96                                   |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                   | Idea                       | 0.04                           | 98.86                       | 0.75                         | 1.84                                   | 2.17                                   |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                   | RJio                       | 0.06                           | 99.60                       | 0.00                         | 0.35                                   | 0.43                                   |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh                   | TATA                       | 0.34                           | 99.49                       | 0.04                         | 0.00                                   | 1.11                                   |
| 1         |                                  | Vodafone                   | 0.07                           | 99.92                       | 0.08                         | 1.51                                   | 1.81                                   |
| 2         | Assam                            | Airtel                     | 0.73                           | 97.81                       | 0.57                         | 1.72                                   | 2.11                                   |
| 2         | Assam                            | BSNL                       | 1.97                           | 98.18                       | 1.82                         | 1.69                                   | 2.71                                   |
| 2         | Assam                            | Idea                       | 0.73                           | 98.76                       | 0.54                         | 2.16                                   | 3.51                                   |
| 2         | Assam                            | RJio                       | 0.50                           | 99.55                       | 0.00                         | 0.55                                   | 0.64                                   |
| 2         |                                  | Vodafone                   | 0.80                           | 98.84                       | 1.10                         | 1.99                                   | 2.54                                   |
| 3         | Bihar (which includes Jharkhand) | Airtel                     | 0.16                           | 97.64                       | 1.04                         | 1.80                                   | 1.99                                   |
| 3         | Bihar (which includes Jharkhand) | BSNL                       | 1.73                           | 95.66                       | 0.50                         | 1.97                                   | 2.87                                   |
| 3         | Bihar (which includes Jharkhand) | Idea                       | 0.82                           | 98.12                       | 1.41                         | 1.85                                   | 2.42                                   |
| 3         | Bihar (which includes Jharkhand) | RJio                       | 0.37                           | 99.46                       | 0.01                         | 0.61                                   | 0.75                                   |
| 3         | Bihar (which includes Jharkhand) | TATA                       | 0.24                           | 97.87                       | 0.15                         | 0.00                                   | 0.00                                   |
| 3         | Bihar (which includes Jharkhand) | Vodafone                   | 0.47                           | 99.16                       | 0.84                         | 1.92                                   | 2.46                                   |
| 4         | Chennai                          | BSNL                       | 0.29                           | 98.40                       | 1.62                         | 1.87                                   | 2.38                                   |
| 5         |                                  | Airtel                     | 0.11                           | 98.55                       | 0.37                         | 1.79                                   | 2.94                                   |
| 5         |                                  | Idea                       | 0.26                           | 98.91                       | 0.50                         | 1.96                                   | 2.45                                   |
| 5         | Delhi                            | MTNL                       | 0.04                           | 97.36                       | 0.78                         | 1.60                                   | 1.80                                   |
| 5         | Delhi                            | RJio                       | 0.18                           | 99.53                       | 0.01                         | 0.28                                   | 0.38                                   |
| 5         | Delhi                            | TATA                       | 0.17                           | 99.22                       | 0.13                         | 0.00                                   | 2.89                                   |
| 5         | Delhi                            | Vodafone                   | 0.15                           | 99.21                       | 0.49                         | 1.71                                   | 2.24                                   |
| 6         | Gujarat                          | Airtel                     | 0.10                           | 99.21                       | 0.33                         | 1.87                                   | 2.14                                   |
| 6         | Gujarat                          | BSNL                       | 1.46                           | 97.59                       | 0.61                         | 1.88                                   | 2.41                                   |
| 6         | Gujarat                          | Idea                       | 0.10                           | 98.38                       | 1.12                         | 1.75                                   | 2.22                                   |
| 6         | Gujarat                          | RJio                       | 0.13                           | 99.58                       | 0.00                         | 0.44                                   | 0.57                                   |
| 6         | Gujarat                          | TATA                       | 0.01                           | 96.02                       | 0.00                         | 0.00                                   | 0.00                                   |
| 6         | Gujarat                          | Vodafone                   | 0.18                           | 99.46                       | 0.41                         | 1.45                                   | 1.90                                   |
| 7         | Haryana                          | Airtel                     | 0.15                           | 99.63                       | 0.16                         | 1.64                                   | 2.50                                   |
|           |                                  | BSNL                       | 0.59                           | 98.73                       | 0.35                         | 1.87                                   | 1.89                                   |
|           |                                  | Idea                       | 0.18                           | 99.14                       | 0.50                         | 1.82                                   | 2.44                                   |
|           |                                  | RJio                       | 0.13                           | 99.56                       | 0.00                         | 0.49                                   | 0.60                                   |
|           |                                  | TATA                       | 0.66                           | 99.63                       | 0.01                         | 0.00                                   | 0.18                                   |
|           |                                  | Vodafone                   | 0.21                           | 99.60                       | 0.33                         | 1.52                                   | 2.22                                   |
|           |                                  |                            |                                | 99.01                       |                              | 1.27                                   | 2.00                                   |
| 8         | Himachal                         | Airtel                     | 0.10                           |                             | 0.47                         |                                        | 2.10                                   |
|           |                                  | BSNL                       | 1.92                           | 98.58                       | 0.92                         | 1.94                                   |                                        |
|           |                                  | RJio                       | 0.17                           | 99.18                       | 0.40                         | 2.24                                   | 2.56                                   |
|           | Pradesh                          | TATA                       | 0.12                           | 99.52                       | 0.00                         | 0.43                                   | 0.54                                   |
|           |                                  |                            | 0.04                           | 96.82                       | 0.07                         | 0.00                                   | 0.00                                   |
|           |                                  | Vodafone                   | 0.09                           | 99.97                       | 0.03                         | 1.96                                   | 2.53                                   |

## Annexure-I

| 9              | Airtel    |   0.17 |   97.64 |   0.50 |   1.22 |   1.55 |
|----------------|-----------|--------|---------|--------|--------|--------|
| 9              | BSNL      |   1.11 |   98.8  |   0.9  |   1.93 |   2.94 |
| 9              | Idea      |   0.47 |   98.79 |   0.72 |   2.16 |   2.6  |
| 9              | RJio      |   0.13 |   99.55 |   0.01 |   0.66 |   0.71 |
| 9              | Vodafone  |   0.09 |   99.97 |   0.03 |   1.98 |   2.47 |
| 10             | Airtel    |   0.25 |   99.31 |   0.23 |   1.56 |   2.8  |
| 10             | BSNL      |   1.32 |   98.12 |   0.76 |   1.98 |   2.97 |
| 10             | Idea      |   0.09 |   99.7  |   0.14 |   1.68 |   2.03 |
| 10             | RJio      |   0.2  |   99.66 |   0    |   0.41 |   0.52 |
| 10             | TATA      |   0.48 |   98.8  |   0.08 |   0.58 |   1.7  |
|                | Vodafone  |   0.32 |   99.86 |   0.06 |   1.09 |   1.42 |
| 11             | Airtel    |   0.18 |   99.48 |   0.18 |   1.85 |   2.81 |
| 11             | BSNL      |   0.76 |   98.64 |   1.03 |   1.79 |   2.04 |
| 11             | Idea      |   0.23 |   99.36 |   0.43 |   1.52 |   2    |
| 11             | RJio      |   0.06 |   99.67 |   0    |   0.41 |   0.65 |
| 11             | TATA      |   0.6  |   99.82 |   0.01 |   0    |   0    |
|                | Vodafone  |   0.07 |   99.71 |   0.21 |   1.08 |   1.36 |
|                | Airtel    |   0.02 |   99.15 |   0.07 |   1.9  |   2.14 |
|                | BSNL      |   1.07 |   99.02 |   0.5  |   1.77 |   1.92 |
|                | Idea      |   0.04 |   99.7  |   0.14 |   1.23 |   1.72 |
|                | RJio      |   0.02 |   99.61 |   0.01 |   0.24 |   0.35 |
|                | TATA      |   0.74 |   99.47 |   0.15 |   0    |   0.95 |
|                | Vodafone  |   0.18 |   99.15 |   0.8  |   1.19 |   1.62 |
| 13             | Airtel    |   0.1  |   98.64 |   0.79 |   1.96 |   2.38 |
| 13             | BSNL      |   1.67 |   97.46 |   1.05 |   1.2  |   2.93 |
| 13             | Idea      |   0.14 |   96.93 |   2.22 |   1.75 |   2.13 |
| 13             | RJio      |   0.28 |   99.56 |   0    |   0.53 |   0.73 |
| 13             | TATA      |   0.3  |   95.72 |   0.05 |   0    |   0    |
| 13             | Vodafone  |   0.17 |   99.89 |   0.11 |   1.89 |   2.39 |
| 14 Maharashtra | Airtel    |   0.03 |   98.93 |   0.47 |   1.89 |   2.44 |
| 14 Maharashtra | BSNL      |   1.31 |   97.65 |   1.32 |   1.9  |   2.49 |
| 14 Maharashtra | Idea      |   0.23 |   98.09 |   0.91 |   1.72 |   2.21 |
| 14 Maharashtra | RJio      |   0.27 |   99.58 |   0    |   0.47 |   0.6  |
| 14 Maharashtra | TATA      |   0.47 |   96.3  |   1.08 |   0    |   1.69 |
| 14 Maharashtra | Vodafone  |   0.18 |   98.98 |   0.95 |   1.58 |   2.08 |
| 15             | Airtel    |   0.21 |   99.24 |   0.53 |   1.85 |   1.95 |
| 15             | Idea      |   0.1  |   99.35 |   0.24 |   1.9  |   2.77 |
| 15             | MTNL      |   0.7  |   97.5  |   0.3  |   1.87 |   2.86 |
| 15             | RJio      |   0.16 |   99.52 |   0.01 |   0.24 |   0.34 |
| 15             | TATA      |   0.45 |   99.12 |   0.31 |   0    |   0    |
| 15             | Vodafone  |   0.29 |   98.43 |   1.42 |   1.6  |   2.38 |
| 16             | Airtel    |   1.07 |   96.96 |   1.18 |   1.75 |   2.44 |
| 16             | BSNL      |   1.78 |   97.39 |   1.79 |   1.72 |   2.42 |
| 16             | Idea      |   1.35 |   99.02 |   0.29 |   2.22 |   3.39 |
| 16             | RJio      |   0.74 |   99.56 |   0    |   0.93 |   1.68 |
| 16             | Vodafone  |   1.19 |   98.51 |   1.25 |   1.96 |   2.85 |
| 17             | Airtel    |   0.79 |   99.15 |   0.79 |   1.59 |   1.87 |
| 17             | BSNL      |   1.52 |   98.55 |   1.45 |   1.94 |   2.15 |
| 17             |           |   0.22 |   99.38 |   0.27 |   1.52 |   1.87 |
| 17             | Idea RJio |   0.21 |   99.62 |   0    |   0.43 |   0.54 |
| 17             | TATA      |   0.57 |   99.6  |   0    |   0    |   0    |
| 17             | Vodafone  |   0.18 |   99.27 |   0.72 |   1.9  |   2.73 |

|          | Airtel          | 0.08      | 99.38       | 0.13      | 1.96      | 2.62      |
|----------|-----------------|-----------|-------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|          | BSNL            | 0.40      | 98.61       | 0.28      | 1.78      | 2.02      |
|          | Idea            | 0.09      | 99.42       | 0.11      | 1.49      | 2.00      |
| 18       | RJio            | 0.06      | 99.57       | 0.00      | 0.22      | 0.31      |
|          | TATA            | 0.35      | 99.47       | 0.06      | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|          | Vodafone        | 0.06      | 99.67       | 0.29      | 1.43      | 1.92      |
|          | Airtel          | 0.20      | 97.14       | 0.92      | 1.64      | 2.08      |
|          | BSNL            | 1.22      | 98.46       | 1.54      | 1.70      | 2.16      |
| 19       | Idea            | 0.07      | 99.49       | 0.29      | 1.96      | 2.13      |
|          | RJio            | 0.06      | 99.52       | 0.00      | 0.76      | 0.92      |
|          | TATA            | 0.35      | 98.26       | 0.04      | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|          | Vodafone        | 0.18      | 99.18       | 0.79      | 1.83      | 2.53      |
|          | Airtel          | 0.08      | 99.41       | 0.29      | 1.54      | 2.24      |
|          | BSNL            | 0.56      | 98.09       | 0.34      | 1.92      | 2.43      |
| 20 Tamil | Idea RJio       | 0.02 0.03 | 99.87 99.62 | 0.05 0.00 | 1.11 0.22 | 1.56      |
|          |                 |           |             |           |           | 0.32      |
|          | TATA            | 0.13      | 99.56 98.58 | 0.02      | 0.00      | 1.54 1.85 |
|          | Vodafone        | 0.08      |             | 1.34      | 1.44      |           |
|          | Airtel          | 0.58      | 96.11       | 1.01      | 1.57      | 2.31      |
|          | BSNL            | 1.67      | 97.82       | 1.46      | 1.66      | 2.04      |
| 21       | Idea            | 0.29      | 98.27       | 1.42      | 1.75      | 2.24      |
|          | RJio            | 0.49      | 99.32       | 0.00      | 0.53      | 0.64      |
|          | TATA            | 0.21      | 96.00       | 0.71      | 0.00      | 1.84      |
|          | Vodafone        | 0.33      | 96.84       | 3.04      | 1.98      | 2.96      |
|          | Airtel          | 1.08      | 99.33       | 0.13      | 1.98      | 2.63      |
|          | BSNL            | 1.69      | 98.22       | 1.29      | 1.79      | 2.36      |
|          | Idea            | 0.25      | 95.43       | 2.51      | 1.71      | 2.44      |
| 22       | RJio            | 0.23      | 99.41       | 0.00      | 0.60      | 0.73      |
|          | TATA            | 0.57      | 99.41       | 0.05      | 0.00      | 0.11      |
|          | Vodafone Airtel | 0.31 0.09 | 94.97 98.68 | 5.00 0.94 | 1.98 1.88 | 2.83 2.17 |
|          | BSNL            | 0.50      | 97.62       | 1.58      | 3.09      |           |
|          |                 |           | 99.59       | 0.08      | 1.91      | 3.67      |
| 23 West  | Idea RJio       | 0.18 0.21 | 99.54       | 0.00      | 0.68      | 2.97 0.90 |
|          | TATA            | 0.38      | 99.88       | 0.00      | 0.00      | 0.00      |
|          |                 | 0.09      | 99.14       | 0.83      | 1.71      | 2.15      |
|          | Vodafone        |           |             |           |           |           |

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