Lok Sabha Question No. 1591 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Telephone and Internet Facilities in Gram Panchayats
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: R. GOPALAKRISHNAN, RAMSINH PATALYABHAI RATHWA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1591 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 th   DECEMBER, 2018

## TELEPHONE AND INTERNET FACILITIES IN GRAM PANCHAYATS

1591. SHRI R. GOPALAKRISHNAN: SHRI RAMSINH RATHWA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of targets planned to provide telephone and high speed internet connectivity in Gram Panchayats under BharatNet and targets achieved so far, State-wise;
- (b) the  number  of  Gram  Panchayats,  particularly  in  Gujarat,  which  have  not  yet  been provided with telephone and high speed internet service facility, district-wise;
- (c) whether it is a fact that these targets have already missed various deadlines and there is still failure in operationalization;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (e) the action taken to operationalize the BharatNet network; and
- (f) the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  provide  better  telephone  and  high  speed internet services facility to Gram Panchayats?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (b)

- i. BharatNet  is  being  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  provide  high  speed broadband  connectivity  to  all  the  Gram  Panchayats  (approx.  2.5  lakh)  in  the country.  BharatNet  Phase  I  to  connect  1,00,000  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  has been completed in December 2017. As on 09.12.2018, OFC laying & equipment installation has been completed at 1,16,492 GPs, which are Service Ready, and the  remaining  GPs  are  under  implementation.  The  State-wise  details  are  at Annexure-I .
- ii. A  total  of  43088  villages,  including  GPs,  in  the  country  are  to  be  covered  by mobile services. For Gujarat, the District-wise details of uncovered villages are at Annexure-II and GPs which are yet to bemade Service Ready under BharatNet are at Annexure-III. As per the National Digital Communications Policy, 2018; all uncovered areas, including GPs, are targeted to be connected by 2022.

(c) to (e)

- i. BharatNet is the aggregation or middle layer of communication network, with last mile connectivity to be provided by Service Providers or States. The network is planned to be completed by March 2019.
- ii. Network  Operating  Centre  (NOC)  is  set  up  to  monitor  the  operation  of  the network  and  the  project  is  presently  in  the  implementation  phase.  The  NOC reports are being monitored on a regular basis. To monitor project implementation, the progress is also being monitored closely.
- iii. To ensure better utilization of BharatNet, a Wi-Fi network is being set up under the  project.  On  an  average,  5  Wi-Fi  Access  Points  (APs)  are  being  set  up  at each  GP.  Of  these,  3  will  cater  to  Government  institutions  such  as  schools, hospitals  and  police  stations,  and  2  will  be  available  for  citizens.  So  far, Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed at 39,365 GPs and out of them, services are being provided in 10,815 GPs, catering to more than 11 lakh subscribers with a data usage of over 50 TB per month.

Further, a total of 99, 711 FTTH connections have been provided from BharatNet network.

(f) The other steps, taken by the Government, to provide better telephone and high speed internet services facility to villages including Gram Panchayats are:

- i. Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected  areas: A  project  to  provide  mobile connectivity  in  Phase-I  has  been  completed  and  2341  towers  have  been installed.  Phase-II  of  the  project  has  been  approved,  and  4072  towers  are planned under this project.
- ii. North  Eastern  Region  (NER): Following  measures  have  been  taken  for expansion of mobile coverage in NER:
3.  Under Comprehensive Telecom Development plan for NER, BSNL has been assigned the installation of 2817 mobile towers for providing mobile coverage in 4119 uncovered villages of Arunachal Pradesh and two Districts of Assam.
4.  M/s Bharti Airtel Limited and M/s Bharti Hexacom Limited have been selected to install 2004 mobile towers for providing mobile coverage in 2128 villages and along National Highways in NER (except Meghalaya).
5.  2173 mobile towers in 2374 uncovered villages and along National Highways in Meghalaya are planned.

## Annexure-I

## Status of Provision of High Speed Broadband connectivity under BharatNet

| Sr. No   | State/UT             |   GPs where Optical Fibre cable laid and equipment installed (Service Ready) |
|----------|----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | ANDHRA PRADESH       |                                                                         1183 |
| 2        | ARUNACHAL PRADESH    |                                                                           43 |
| 3        | ANDAMAN & NICOBAR    |                                                                            0 |
| 4        | ASSAM                |                                                                         1589 |
| 5        | BIHAR                |                                                                         5865 |
| 6        | CHANDIGARH           |                                                                           13 |
| 7        | CHHATTISGARH         |                                                                         4052 |
| 8        | DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI |                                                                           21 |
| 9        | DAMAN & DIU          |                                                                           17 |
| 10       | GUJARAT              |                                                                         5113 |
| 11       | HARYANA              |                                                                         6186 |
| 12       | HIMACHAL PRADESH     |                                                                          226 |
| 13       | JAMMU & KASHMIR      |                                                                          263 |
| 14       | JHARKHAND            |                                                                         2309 |
| 15       | KARNATAKA            |                                                                         6110 |
| 16       | KERALA               |                                                                         1129 |
| 17       | MADHYA PRADESH       |                                                                        12689 |
| 18       | MAHARASHTRA          |                                                                        15126 |
| 19       | MANIPUR              |                                                                          248 |
| 20       | MEGHALAYA            |                                                                          122 |
| 21       | MIZORAM              |                                                                           23 |
| 22       | NAGALAND             |                                                                           86 |
| 23       | ODISHA               |                                                                         3496 |
| 24       | PUDUCHERRY           |                                                                          101 |
| 25       | PUNJAB               |                                                                         7911 |
| 26       | RAJASTHAN            |                                                                         8451 |
| 27       | SIKKIM               |                                                                           14 |
| 28       | TELANGANA            |                                                                         2047 |
| 29       | TRIPURA              |                                                                          527 |
| 30       | UTTAR PRADESH        |                                                                        27940 |
| 31       | UTTARAKHAND          |                                                                         1511 |
| 32       | WEST BENGAL          |                                                                         2081 |
|          | Total                |                                                                       116492 |

## District-wise details of uncovered villages of Gujarat

| S. No.   | District Name   |   No of Uncovered Villages |
|----------|-----------------|----------------------------|
| 1        | AHMEDABAD       |                         14 |
| 2        | AMRELI          |                         22 |
| 3        | ANAND           |                          1 |
| 4        | BANAS KANTHA    |                         61 |
| 5        | BHARUCH         |                         30 |
| 6        | BHAVNAGAR       |                         35 |
| 7        | DOHAD           |                          9 |
| 8        | GANDHINAGAR     |                          2 |
| 9        | JAMNAGAR        |                         70 |
| 10       | JUNAGADH        |                         51 |
| 11       | KACHCHH         |                        176 |
| 12       | KHEDA           |                          4 |
| 13       | NARMADA         |                        120 |
| 14       | NAVSARI         |                          5 |
| 15       | PANCH MAHALS    |                         28 |
| 16       | PATAN           |                         25 |
| 17       | PORBANDAR       |                         19 |
| 18       | RAJKOT          |                         37 |
| 19       | SABAR KANTHA    |                         40 |
| 20       | SURAT           |                         11 |
| 21       | SURENDRANAGAR   |                         33 |
| 22       | TAPI            |                         65 |
| 23       | THE DANGS       |                        226 |
| 24       | VADODARA        |                        153 |
| 25       | VALSAD          |                         25 |
|          | TOTAL           |                       1262 |

## Annexure-II

District-wise Status of connectivity in respect of Gujarat

| S. No   | District         |   Total No. of GPs |   Service Ready GPs |   Balance GPs yet to be connected |
|---------|------------------|--------------------|---------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 1       | AHMEDABAD        |                462 |                   0 |                               462 |
| 2       | ARAVALLI         |                295 |                   0 |                               295 |
| 3       | BHARUCH          |                543 |                 354 |                               189 |
| 4       | BANAS KANTHA     |                784 |                   0 |                               784 |
| 5       | DAHOD            |                638 |                   0 |                               638 |
| 6       | DANG             |                 71 |                   0 |                                71 |
| 7       | DEVBHOOMI DWARKA |                239 |                   0 |                               239 |
| 8       | GANDHINAGAR      |                294 |                 264 |                                30 |
| 9       | GIR SOMNATH      |                329 |                   0 |                               329 |
| 10      | JUNAGADH         |                901 |                   0 |                               901 |
| 11      | KHEDA            |                565 |                 491 |                                74 |
| 12      | PATAN            |                466 |                 361 |                               105 |
| 13      | AMRELI           |                585 |                 425 |                               160 |
| 14      | KUTCHCH          |                605 |                 410 |                               195 |
| 15      | NAVSARI          |                370 |                 370 |                                 0 |
| 16      | BHAVNAGAR        |                758 |                 659 |                                99 |
| 17      | ANAND            |                351 |                 351 |                                 0 |
| 18      | MAHESANA         |                594 |                 340 |                               254 |
| 19      | MAHISAGAR        |                291 |                   0 |                               291 |
| 20      | MORBI            |                338 |                   0 |                               338 |
| 21      | NARMADA          |                220 |                   0 |                               220 |
| 22      | PORBANDAR        |                147 |                  83 |                                64 |
| 23      | PANCH MAHALS     |                438 |                   0 |                               438 |
| 24      | RAJKOT           |                592 |                   0 |                               592 |
| 25      | SABARKANTHA      |                420 |                 404 |                                16 |
| 26      | SURAT            |                567 |                   0 |                               567 |
| 27      | SURENDRANAGAR    |                539 |                   0 |                               539 |
| 28      | TAPI             |                283 |                   0 |                               283 |
| 29      | VALSAD           |                373 |                  92 |                               281 |
| 30      | VADODRA          |                534 |                 241 |                               293 |
| 31      | CHHOTA UDAIPUR   |                324 |                 268 |                                56 |
|         | TOTAL            |              13916 |                5113 |                              8803 |

*****************

## Annexure-III