Lok Sabha Question No. 2777 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-11
Subject: Telecom Coverage in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: C.N. Annadurai

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2777 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH  MARCH, 2020

## TELECOM COVERAGE IN TAMIL NADU

## 2777. SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the percentage of telecommunication network coverage, district-wise; and
- (b) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to increase the same?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

- (a) As per the information provided by service providers, district-wise telecommunication network coverage in the Tamil Nadu service area is as follows:

|   S.No. | District Name                       |   Population coverage (in %) |
|---------|-------------------------------------|------------------------------|
|       1 | Ariyalur                            |                       100    |
|       2 | Chennai                             |                       100    |
|       3 | Coimbatore                          |                       100    |
|       4 | Cuddalore                           |                        99.86 |
|       5 | Dharmapuri                          |                        99.61 |
|       6 | Dindigul                            |                        99.22 |
|       7 | Erode                               |                        98.62 |
|       8 | Kancheepuram (including Chengalpet) |                        99.75 |
|       9 | Kanyakumari                         |                        99.82 |
|      10 | Karur                               |                       100    |
|      11 | Krishnagiri                         |                        96.27 |
|      12 | Madurai                             |                        99.98 |
|      13 | Nagapattinam                        |                       100    |
|      14 | Namakkal                            |                        99.06 |
|      15 | Perambalur                          |                        99.99 |
|      16 | Pudukkottai                         |                        99.45 |
|      17 | Ramanathapuram                      |                        97.21 |
|      18 | Salem                               |                        99.16 |
|      19 | Sivagangai                          |                       100    |
|      20 | Thanjavur                           |                       100    |
|      21 | The Nilgiris                        |                        99.26 |
|      22 | Theni                               |                        98.74 |
|      23 | Thiruvallur                         |                        99.97 |

|   24 | Thiruvarur                              |   100.00 |
|------|-----------------------------------------|----------|
|   25 | Tuticorin                               |    97.96 |
|   26 | Tiruchirappalli                         |    99.64 |
|   27 | Tirunelveli (including Tenkasi)         |   100    |
|   28 | Tiruppur                                |    99.88 |
|   29 | Thiruvannamalai                         |    98.97 |
|   30 | Vellore (including Ranipet &Tirupattur) |    99.36 |
|   31 | Viluppuram (including Kallakurichi)     |    98.81 |
|   32 | Virudhunagar                            |    99.99 |

(b) In order to facilitate expansion of telecommunication services, the Department of Telecommunications has initiated a series of policy initiatives and development programs as below:

- (i) making  available  sufficient  spectrum  for  mobile  services  including  auction  of 965 MHz across different bands (700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 and 2500 MHz bands) in 2016.
- (ii) allowing spectrum sharing, trading and liberalisation of administratively allocated spectrum as per guidelines.
- (iii) permitting  sharing  of  active  as  well  as  passive  infrastructure  by  the  TSPs  for achieving higher utilisation efficiency.
- (iv) permitting Internet Protocol (IP) based  interconnections  between  TSPs  in addition to the prevailing arrangements.
- (v) notification of Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 dated 15.11.2016 for regulating underground infrastructure (optical fibre) and over-ground infrastructure (mobile towers).
- (vi) periodic  review  of  expansion  of  mobile  networks  and  related  improvements carried out by TSPs.

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