Lok Sabha Question No. 1543 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-27
Subject: Telephone Services in Odisha
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Anubhav Mohanty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1543 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH   NOVEMBER, 2019

## TELEPHONE SERVICES IN ODISHA

## 1543. SHRI ANUBHAV MOHANTY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether around 43,000 villages in the country including 9940 villages in the State of Odisha do not have access to telephone services and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise alongwith the reasons therefor; and

- (b) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to ensure the availability of these service at the earliest alongwith the time by which it is likely to be done?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b) As  per  data  collected  from  the  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  and  Department  of Telecommunications (DoT) field units  in  2019,  it  is estimated  that  27,721  villages  in  the  country  including 6549 villages in the State of Odisha do not have access to mobile services. The State/Union Territories-wise list of uncovered villages is at Annexure. The reasons for not having mobile services in these villages include, inter-alia, remote and tough terrain, areas diversely located with scattered population and commercially nonviable operations. Mobile coverage in such villages is being provided by the Government and TSPs in a phased manner. Following projects are approved for providing/facilitating mobile services in these inhabited villages:

- (i) Under  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected  areas  Phase-I  project,  2,355  towers  at  a  cost  of  Rs. 3,591.22 crore have been installed by Government of India of which, 261 towers are in Odisha. Under LWE Phase-II project, installation of 2,217 mobile towers at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,194.83 crore has  been  approved  for  providing  mobile  connectivity  including  158  mobile  towers  in  the  State  of Odisha;
- (ii) Mobile connectivity in 354 villages of uncovered border areas including Ladakh and Kargil Region, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other priority areas at an estimated cost of Rs. 384.01 crore;
- (iii) A Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region to provide  mobile  coverage  in  uncovered  villages  and  alongwith  National  Highways  and  to  augment transmission network;
- (iv) Laying  of  submarine  optical  fibre  cable  between  Chennai  and  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands  for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (v) Mobile connectivity to cover uncovered villages and along National Highway (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (vi) Mobile connectivity has been enhanced in Lakshadweep Islands by installing 10 mobile towers;
- (vii) Satellite bandwidth augmentation upto 4 Gbps for Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (viii) Satellite bandwidth augmentation upto 1.71 Gbps for Lakshadweep Islands.

## Annexure

## Annexure referred to in Part (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1543 for answer on 27.11.2019 State/ UT wise list of villages regarding coverage of mobile services

| Sl. No.   | State/UT            |   Number of inhabited villages as per census 2011 |   No. of inhabited villages covered withmobile services |   No. of inhabited villages without mobile services |
|-----------|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 1.        | Andaman &Nicobar    |                                               396 |                                                     239 |                                                 157 |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh      |                                             16158 |                                                   14063 |                                                2095 |
| 3.        | Arunachal Pradesh   |                                              5258 |                                                    3454 |                                                1804 |
| 4.        | Assam               |                                             25372 |                                                   24162 |                                                1210 |
| 5.        | Bihar               |                                             39073 |                                                   38807 |                                                 266 |
| 6.        | Chandigarh          |                                                 5 |                                                       5 |                                                   0 |
| 7.        | Chhattisgarh        |                                             19567 |                                                   17317 |                                                2250 |
| 8.        | Dadra &Nagar Haveli |                                                65 |                                                      65 |                                                   0 |
| 9.        | Daman &Diu          |                                                19 |                                                      19 |                                                   0 |
| 10.       | NCT of Delhi        |                                               103 |                                                     103 |                                                   0 |
| 11.       | Goa                 |                                               320 |                                                     297 |                                                  23 |
| 12.       | Gujarat             |                                             17843 |                                                   17152 |                                                 691 |
| 13.       | Haryana             |                                              6642 |                                                    6641 |                                                   1 |
| 14.       | Himachal Pradesh    |                                             17882 |                                                   17716 |                                                 166 |
| 15.       | Jammu &Kashmir      |                                              6101 |                                                    5963 |                                                 138 |
| 16.       | Jharkhand           |                                             29492 |                                                   28239 |                                                1253 |
| 17.       | Karnataka           |                                             27397 |                                                   26834 |                                                 563 |
| 18.       | Kerala              |                                              1017 |                                                    1017 |                                                   0 |
| 19.       | Ladakh              |                                               236 |                                                     174 |                                                  62 |
| 20.       | Lakshadweep         |                                                 6 |                                                       5 |                                                   1 |
| 21.       | Madhya Pradesh      |                                             51929 |                                                   48959 |                                                2970 |
| 22.       | Maharashtra         |                                             40959 |                                                   37970 |                                                2989 |
| 23.       | Manipur             |                                              2515 |                                                    1727 |                                                 788 |
| 24.       | Meghalaya           |                                              6459 |                                                    4861 |                                                1598 |
| 25.       | Mizoram             |                                               704 |                                                     434 |                                                 270 |
| 26.       | Nagaland            |                                              1400 |                                                    1131 |                                                 269 |
| 27.       | Odisha              |                                             47677 |                                                   41128 |                                                6549 |
| 28.       | Punjab              |                                             12168 |                                                   12168 |                                                   0 |
| 29.       | Puducherry          |                                                90 |                                                      90 |                                                   0 |
| 30.       | Rajasthan           |                                             43264 |                                                   42494 |                                                 770 |
| 31.       | Sikkim              |                                               425 |                                                     414 |                                                  11 |
| 32.       | Tamil Nadu          |                                             15049 |                                                   15021 |                                                  28 |
| 33.       | Telangana           |                                             10128 |                                                   10018 |                                                 110 |
| 34.       | Tripura             |                                               863 |                                                     855 |                                                   8 |
| 35.       | Uttarakhand         |                                             15745 |                                                   15540 |                                                 205 |
| 36.       | Uttar Pradesh       |                                             97813 |                                                   97394 |                                                 419 |
| 37.       | West Bengal         |                                             37478 |                                                   37421 |                                                  57 |
|           | TOTAL               |                                            597618 |                                                  569897 |                                               27721 |

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