Lok Sabha Question No. 105 (STARRED), answered on 2018-07-25
Subject: Broadband Penetration in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: RAOSAHEB PATIL DANVE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 105 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 th   JULY, 2018

## BROADBAND PENETRATION IN RURAL AREAS

*105. SHRI RAOSAHEB DANVE PATIL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) the  percentage  of  broadband  penetration  in  the  rural  areas  vis-a-vis  the  total broadband subscribers in the country;

- (b) the percentage increase in the rural broadband penetration during the last three years;
- (c) whether the broadband services in rural areas have not seen any progress so far despite huge progress in the telecommunication sector, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and

(d) the  reaction  of  the  Government  thereto  and  the  corrective  steps  taken  by  the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (d) A statement is laid on the table of the House.

Contd………2/-

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *105 FOR 25 TH   JULY, 2018 ON 'BROADBAND PENETRATION IN RURAL AREAS'.

(a) The number of broadband connections in the country as on 31.03.2018  stood at 412.60  million  out  of  which  the  rural  broadband  connections  are  106.52  million  which constitutes 25.82% of total connections.

(b) The percentage increases in the rural broadband penetration during the last three years are as follows:

| Year    |   Rural broadband connections (in million) |   %increase |
|---------|--------------------------------------------|-------------|
| 2017-18 |                                     106.52 |       49.9  |
| 2016-17 |                                      71.06 |      113.46 |
| 2015-16 |                                      33.29 |       56.14 |

Source: TRAI

(c) & (d)    Broadband services in rural areas have seen good progress on the back of substantial development in the telecommunication sector. The Government is implementing the flagship Bharatnet project (in two phases) to link each of the 2.5 lakh Gram  Panchayats  of  India  through  optical  fibre  network.  This  is  the  largest  rural connectivity  project  of  its  kind,  and  is  the  first  pillar  of  the  Digital  India  Programme. Phase-I of  the  Project  has  been  completed  in  December  2017  and  over  100,000  GPs have been made Service Ready. Phase II of BharatNet project which aims to connect 1.5 lakh  GPs  through  high  speed  broadband,  has  been  launched  and  is  targeted  to  be completed by March 2019. As on 15.7.2018, a total of  113091 GPs  have  been  made service ready.

As part of BharatNet project, the last mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband technology is being provided at all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country.  At  each  GP,  on  an  average  five  Access  Points  (APs)  are  envisaged  which include  three  APs for Government institutions and two APs for public places.

The government has also proposed to set up 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots  at existing rural exchanges of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), besides providing connectivity to  uncovered  villages  of  the  North  Eastern  Region  (NER)  through  a  comprehensive telecom development plan for the region.

This apart, the Department has executed a project for providing Mobile Services in identified  locations  in  ten  States  affected  by  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE).  Under  this project, 2355 locations in LWE areas were taken up for installation of towers in Phase-I. As of now, a total of 2335 mobile towers are radiating. Phase-II of the project, involving installation of 4072 towers, has been approved by the Government on 23-05-2018.

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