Lok Sabha Question No. 3638 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-01-02
Subject: Lack of Mobile Towers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: RANJEET RANJAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3638 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND  JANUARY, 2019

## LACK OF MOBILE TOWERS

- †3638. SHRIMATI RANJEET RANJAN: SHRI RAJESH RANJAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is paucity of mobile towers in many villages across the country due to which they are deprived of mobile services and if so, the details thereof, State/ UTwise and the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether about twenty per cent of total population is still deprived of communication facilities and if so, the details thereof the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (c) whether network of BSNL is poor as compared to its private competitors and its call rates are also costlier as against its counterparts and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the 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) The  Government  is  making  all  efforts  along  with  the  stakeholders  to  provide affordable  tele-connectivity  to  all  inhabited  areas  of  the  country.  As  a  result  of  the continuous efforts, total number of mobile towers in the country has increased to about 5.07 lakh and total number of Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) installed for 2G/3G/4GLTE mobile services  have  increased  to  about  20.07  lakh,  as  on  1 st December 2018. Consequently, the wireless tele-density in the country has increased from 74.55 % in September 2014 to 89.51 % in September 2018.

Out of a total of 597618 inhabited villages in the country, 43088 villages are yet to  be  provided  with  tele-connectivity.  State/  Union  Territory-wise  details  are  given  at Annexure-I. As  per  TSPs,  the  sparsely  populated  villages  pose  techno-commercial challenges in making available mobile services on universal basis. These villages have average population size < 1,000 with generally low economic activities at present. Lack of  feasibility  of  cost-effective  back-haul  transmission  is  also  a  barrier  against  faster expansion of the services.

- (b) It is estimated that 2G- GSM mobile service coverage is accessible to about 97 % of the population and 4G-LTE is accessible to about 88 % of the population.

Mobile coverage to the uncovered villages is planned to be provided in a phased manner.  Government  has  prioritised  the  provision  of  mobile  services  in  Left  Wing Extremism  affected  areas,  North-Eastern  States  and  Islands  in  the  first  phase.  With support from USOF, following main schemes are under implementation:

- (i) Under BharatNet project, a total of 1,20,224 Gram Panchayats (GPs) have been connected by Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) by laying 3,03,560 Km OFC and installation of equipment has been  completed at 1,16,543 GPs, as on 16 th December 2018.
- (ii) Scheme  for  Mobile  Communication  Services  in  Left  Wing  Extremism (LWE) affected areas in 10 States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,  Jharkhand,  Maharashtra,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Odisha,  Telangana, Uttar  Pradesh  and  West  Bengal.  Under  Phase-I  of  the  scheme,  2341  mobile towers  are  radiating.  The  Government  has  already  approved  Phase  II  of  the Scheme to extend mobile services at 4072 locations in LWE affected areas, as identified by Ministry of Home Affairs.
- (iii) Under Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan(CTDP) for the NorthEastern  Region  (NER),  installation  of  6673  mobile  towers  for  8621  identified uncovered villages, 321 mobile towers for National Highways and strengthening of  transmission  network  in  the  region  has  been  approved.  Bharat  Sanchar Nigam  Limited  (BSNL)  has  been  given  the  responsibility  of  installing  2817 mobile  towers  for  providing  mobile  coverage  in  4119  uncovered  villages  of Arunachal Pradesh and two districts of Assam vide Agreement dated 16 th January 2018. Another agreement to install 2004 mobile towers in the rest of the region (except Meghalaya) has been entrusted to M/s Bharti Airtel Limited and M/s Bharti Hexacom Limited on 08.12.2017. Further, the Government has approved installation of 2173 mobile towers in Meghalaya in May 2018.
- (iv) Under  CTDP  for  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands,  satellite  bandwidth  has been  augmented  and  submarine  cable-based  connectivity  project  is  under implementation.  It  is  also  planned  to  set  up  167  additional  towers  to  provide mobile coverage in 165 uncovered villages and 42 towers for mobile coverage on entire 129 km of uncovered NH223.
- (v) Similar plans for Lakshadweep Islands are also under implementation.

(c) As  per  TRAI  Performance  Indicator  Report  for  the  quarter  ending  September 2018, performance of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) related to mobile network is comparable to the private TSPs. TRAI has reported that tariff is under forbearance, and all TSPs including BSNL are free to offer competitive tariff plans depending upon market conditions.

## Count of villages without telecom facilities in respective States/ Union Territories (UT) is as under:

| Sr.   | State/UT Name        | No. of inhabited villages as per census 2011   | No. of inhabited villages without telecom facilities   |
|-------|----------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.    | Andaman & Nicobar    | 396                                            | 165                                                    |
| 2.    | Andhra Pradesh       | 16158                                          | 2745                                                   |
| 3.    | Arunachal Pradesh    | 5258                                           | 2215                                                   |
| 4.    | Assam                | 25372                                          | 915                                                    |
| 5.    | Bihar                | 39073                                          | 263                                                    |
| 6.    | Chandigarh           | 5                                              | 0                                                      |
| 7.    | Chhattisgarh         | 19567                                          | 3563                                                   |
| 8.    | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 65                                             | 0                                                      |
| 9.    | Daman & Diu          | 19                                             | 0                                                      |
| 10.   | Delhi                | 103                                            | 0                                                      |
| 11.   | Goa                  | 320                                            | 47                                                     |
| 12.   | Gujarat              | 17843                                          | 1262                                                   |
| 13.   | Haryana              | 6642                                           | 8                                                      |
| 14.   | Himachal Pradesh     | 17882                                          | 211                                                    |
| 15.   | Jammu & Kashmir      | 6337                                           | 328                                                    |
| 16.   | Jharkhand            | 29492                                          | 1222                                                   |
| 17.   | Karnataka            | 27397                                          | 869                                                    |
| 18.   | Kerala               | 1017                                           | 0                                                      |
| 19.   | Lakshadweep          | 6                                              | 1                                                      |
| 20.   | Madhya Pradesh       | 51929                                          | 5558                                                   |
| 21.   | Maharashtra          | 40959                                          | 6117                                                   |
| 22.   | Manipur              | 2515                                           | 877                                                    |
| 23.   | Meghalaya            | 6459                                           | 2691                                                   |
| 24.   | Mizoram              | 704                                            | 314                                                    |
| 25.   | Nagaland             | 1400                                           | 328                                                    |
| 26.   | Odisha               | 47677                                          | 9940                                                   |
| 27.   | Punjab               | 12168                                          | 4                                                      |
| 28.   | Puducherry           | 90                                             | 0                                                      |
| 29.   | Rajasthan            | 43264                                          | 1402                                                   |
| 30.   | Sikkim               | 425                                            | 13                                                     |
| 31.   | Tamil Nadu           | 15049                                          | 83                                                     |
| 32.   | Telangana            | 10128                                          | 647                                                    |
| 33.   | Tripura              | 863                                            | 16                                                     |
| 34.   | Uttarakhand          | 15745                                          | 552                                                    |
| 35.   | Uttar Pradesh        | 97813                                          | 295                                                    |
| 36.   | West Bengal          | 37478                                          | 437                                                    |
|       | TOTAL                | 5,97,618                                       | 43,088                                                 |

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