Lok Sabha Question No. 1394 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-27
Subject: Telecommunication Facilities in Forest Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Baidyanath Prasad Mahto

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1394 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH   NOVEMBER, 2019

## TELECOMMUNICATION FACILITIES IN FOREST AREAS

## †1394. SHRI BAIDYANATH PRASAD MAHTO:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the areas in the country where communication facility including the network quality is poor, State/UTwise and district-wise;
- (b) the steps taken by the Government to improve the mobile network in forest areas of the country; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to provide telecom network to the people living in forest areas of Valmiki Nagar?

## ANSWER

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

(a) Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  has  been  monitoring  the  performance  of  Telecom Service  Providers  (TSPs)  against  the  benchmarks  for  various  Quality  of  Service  parameters  laid  down  by TRAI  by  way  of  Quality  of  Service  regulations  issued  from  time  to  time,  through  Quarterly  Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs). The performance is assessed for aLicence Service Area (LSA) as a whole. Hence, separate  information  on  performance  on  Quality  of  Service  in  a  state  or  union  territory  or  District  or  in  a particular area such as forest area is not available.

As per the PMR for the quarter ending September 2019, for Cellular Mobile Telephone Services, all the service providers are largely complying with benchmark for all the parameters. The details regarding noncompliance by TSPs with the benchmarks are given in Annexure-I

- (b) The steps taken by Government to improve mobile network in the country including provisioning of mobile services in uncovered areas are given below:
-  Under  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected  areas  Phase-II  project,  Government  has  approved installation of 2217 mobile towers for providing mobile connectivity.
-  Scheme  for  providing  mobile  connectivity  in  354  villages  of  uncovered  border  areas,  Ladakh  and Kargil Region and other priority areas.
-  A Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region to provide  mobile  coverage  in  uncovered  villages,  along  with  National  Highways  and  to  strengthen transmission network.
-  Laying  of  submarine  optical  fibre  cable  between  Chennai  and  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands  for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
-  Satellite Bandwidth Augmentation upto 4 Gbps for Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
-  Mobile connectivity to cover uncovered villages and along National Highway (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
-  Augmentation of Satellite bandwidth from 318 Mbps to 1.71 Gbps for Lakshadweep Islands.

-  Under BharatNet project to provide broadband connectivity in all the Gram Panchayats (approx 2.5 lakh) in the country.
-  Several policy initiatives also taken to facilitate infrastructure growth for delivery of quality services. These include permitting trading/sharing/liberalisation of spectrum already granted, permitting passive &  active  infrastructure-sharing, Notification of  Right  of  Way  Rules-  2016,  making  available government land/buildings for installations of towers etc.

(c) The  present  status  &  plan  for  providing  telecom  network  to  the  people  living  in  the  forest  areas  of Valmiki Nagar are detailed at Annexure-II.

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in reply of para (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1394 to be answered on 27th  November,  2019  raised  by  Hon'ble  Members  of  Parliament  Shri  Baidyanath  Prasad  Mahto regarding 'Telecommunication Facilities In Forest Areas'

| Details of instances of non-compliance by TSPs with the TRAI benchmarks                            | Details of instances of non-compliance by TSPs with the TRAI benchmarks   | Details of instances of non-compliance by TSPs with the TRAI benchmarks   | Details of instances of non-compliance by TSPs with the TRAI benchmarks   | Details of instances of non-compliance by TSPs with the TRAI benchmarks   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Parameter                                                                                          | Benchmark                                                                 | Telecom Service Provider(TSP)                                             | Service Area                                                              | Performance                                                               |
| Base Station (BS) Accumulated down- time (not available                                            | ≤ 2%                                                                      | VIL-Brand Idea                                                            | Jammu & Kashmir                                                           | 8.66                                                                      |
| for service) (%age)                                                                                | ≤ 2%                                                                      | VIL-Brand Vodafone                                                        | Jammu & Kashmir                                                           | 8.66                                                                      |
| Worst affected BSs due to down-time (%age)                                                         | ≤ 2%                                                                      | BSNL                                                                      | Kerala                                                                    | 3.44                                                                      |
| Worst affected BSs due to down-time (%age)                                                         | ≤ 2%                                                                      | VIL-Brand Idea                                                            | Jammu & Kashmir                                                           | 11.22                                                                     |
| Worst affected BSs due to down-time (%age)                                                         | ≤ 2%                                                                      | VIL-Brand Vodafone                                                        | Jammu & Kashmir                                                           | 11.22                                                                     |
| SDCCH/ Paging Channel Congestion/ RRC Congestion                                                   | ≤ 1%                                                                      | VIL-Brand Idea                                                            | Jammu & Kashmir                                                           | 7.73                                                                      |
| (%age) TCH, RAB and E- RAB Congestion                                                              | ≤ 1%                                                                      | VIL-Brand Vodafone                                                        | Jammu & Kashmir                                                           | 7.73                                                                      |
| (%age)                                                                                             | ≤ 2%                                                                      | VIL-Brand Idea                                                            | Uttar Pradesh-West                                                        | 2.76                                                                      |
| Network QoS DCR Spatial Distribution Measure [Network_ QSD (90,90)]                                | ≤ 2%                                                                      | BSNL                                                                      | West Bengal                                                               | 8.86                                                                      |
| Network QoS DCR Temporal Distribution Measure                                                      | ≤ 3%                                                                      | BSNL                                                                      | West Bengal                                                               | 10.34                                                                     |
| Network QoS DCR Temporal Distribution Measure                                                      | ≤ 3%                                                                      | VIL-Brand Idea                                                            | Jammu & Kashmir                                                           | 4.23                                                                      |
| [Network_ QTD                                                                                      | ≤ 3%                                                                      | VIL-Brand Vodafone                                                        | Jammu & Kashmir                                                           | 4.23                                                                      |
| (97,90)] Metering and billing credibility - post paid                                              | ≤ 0.1%                                                                    | BSNL                                                                      | West Bengal                                                               | 0.18                                                                      |
| Period of applying credit/ waiver/ adjustment to customer's account from the date of resolution of | within 1 week of resolution of complaint                                  | VIL-Brand Idea                                                            | Gujarat                                                                   | 99.66                                                                     |
| Period of applying credit/ waiver/ adjustment to customer's account from the date of resolution of | within 1 week of resolution of complaint                                  | VIL-Brand Vodafone                                                        | Gujarat                                                                   | 99.76                                                                     |
| Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds                   | ≥ 95%                                                                     | Airtel                                                                    | Andhra Pradesh                                                            | 86                                                                        |
| Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds                   | ≥ 95%                                                                     | Airtel                                                                    | Assam                                                                     | 93                                                                        |
| Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds                   | ≥ 95%                                                                     | Airtel                                                                    | Bihar                                                                     | 91                                                                        |
| Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds                   | ≥ 95%                                                                     | Airtel                                                                    | Delhi                                                                     | 93                                                                        |
| Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds                   | ≥ 95%                                                                     | Airtel                                                                    | Gujarat                                                                   | 89                                                                        |
| Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds                   | ≥ 95%                                                                     | Airtel                                                                    | Jammu & Kashmir                                                           | 92                                                                        |
| Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds                   | ≥ 95%                                                                     | Airtel                                                                    | Kerala                                                                    | 89                                                                        |
| Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds                   | ≥ 95%                                                                     | Airtel                                                                    | Kolkata                                                                   | 90                                                                        |
| Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds                   | ≥ 95%                                                                     | Airtel                                                                    | Maharashtra                                                               | 93                                                                        |

|                                                                           |                    |                    | Mumbai             |    92 |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|-------|
|                                                                           |                    |                    | North East         | 89    |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Odisha             | 90    |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Punjab             | 89    |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Tamil Nadu         | 82    |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Uttar Pradesh-East | 92    |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | West Bengal        | 89    |
|                                                                           |                    | VIL-Brand Idea     | Kerala             | 94.78 |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Delhi              | 92.56 |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Gujarat            | 92.9  |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Haryana            | 90.51 |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Kolkata            | 83.73 |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Kerala             | 79.84 |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Karnataka          | 89.6  |
|                                                                           |                    | VIL-Brand Vodafone | Mumbai             | 92.75 |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Punjab             | 92.81 |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Rajasthan          | 93.73 |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Uttar Pradesh-East | 89.84 |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | Uttar Pradesh-West | 93.3  |
|                                                                           |                    |                    | West Bengal        | 94.11 |
| %age requests for Termination / Closure of service complied within 7 days | 100% within 7 days | VIL-Brand Vodafone | Uttar Pradesh-East | 96.94 |
| Time taken for refund of deposits after closures                          | 100% within 60     | VIL-Brand Idea     | Gujarat            | 95.27 |
| Time taken for refund of deposits after closures                          | days               |                    | Madhya Pradesh     | 96.19 |

Annexure referred to in reply of para (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1394 to be answered on 27th  November,  2019  raised  by  Hon'ble  Members  of  Parliament  Shri  Baidyanath  Prasad  Mahto regarding 'Telecommunication Facilities in Forest Areas'

| Area                          | Name of TSP   | Present status of the telecom services                                                                                                                                                                                                                 | Plan for provisioning of mobile services/towers                                     |
|-------------------------------|---------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Forest area of Valimiki Nagar | Vodafone Idea | Not Providing                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | No Plan in this FY, further plan depends upon the feasibility and Market conditions |
| Forest area of Valimiki Nagar | RJIL          | Covered                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | 2 additional sites planned                                                          |
| Forest area of Valimiki Nagar | BSNL          | Telecom services in Valmiki Nagar are being provided through following Exchanges/BTS-Valmiki Nagar Echange (EXCH) & BTS, Thari BTS, Gharauli BTS, Ganauli Narayanpur BTS, Parsauni BTS, Naurangia BTS, Madanpur BTS, HarnatandEXCH& BTS, Khajuriya BTS | Valmiki Nagar Guest House GSM BTS                                                   |
| Forest area of Valimiki Nagar | Airtel        | 23 Airtel sites serving near the'Valimiki National Park' area in Bihar LSA                                                                                                                                                                             | 5 sites planned                                                                     |

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