Lok Sabha Question No. 121 (STARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Mobile Connectivity in the North-East Region
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: NINONG ERING

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 121 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 th   DECEMBER, 2018

## MOBILE CONNECTIVITY IN THE NORTH-EAST REGION

## *121. SHRI NINONG ERING:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  fact  that  there  is  no  proper  mobile connectivity along the border in the North-East Region and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether  a  joint  survey  was  conducted  by  the  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited (BSNL) and Border Security Force (BSF) in the North-East area of the country and if so, the details, the objectives and the outcome thereof; and
- (c) the  number  of  mobile  towers  installed  and  proposed  to  be  installed  on  the International  border  in  the  North-East  Region  along  with  the  time  frame  set  in  this regard, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (c) 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  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *121  FOR  19 TH DECEMBER, 2018 ON 'MOBILE CONNECTIVITY IN THE NORTH-EAST REGION'.

(a) The Government is aware of lack of mobile connectivity in certain parts of North East  Region  and  has  already  initiated  a  series  of  telecom  projects  to  provide  mobile services  throughout  the  region  in  spite  of  various  constraints  such  as  difficult  terrain, scattered habitations and insurgency.

Under Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region (NER), funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), 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. The Statewise details of mobile towers to be installed is given at Annexure-I.

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.

(b) Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had requested Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to assist in providing telecom connectivity initially  at  1683 Border  Out  Posts  (BOPs)  of Central  Armed  Police  Forces  (CAPF)  i.e.  Assam  Rifles, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Border Security Force (BSF)  and  Central  Reserve  Police  Force  (CRPF)  etc.  spread  throughout  the  country including  in  the  North  Eastern  Region.  As  per  requirement  of  MHA,  Detailed  Project Report (DPR) for 1683 sites was prepared by BSNL after conducting a joint survey and forwarded  to  MHA  in  May  2016.  Thereafter,  MHA  intimated  the  revised  demand  for connectivity  including  broadband  using  Optical  Fibre  Cable  (OFC)  at  around  3000 BOPs. Preliminary estimates for wireless as well as OFC-based connectivity for these BOPs were provided to MHA in October, 2017 and January, 2018.

In subsequent review meetings of Empowered Committee on Border Infrastructure,  it  was  suggested  to  explore  the  use  of  alternate  technologies  for providing telecom connectivity (Wi Fi based) using the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN)  connectivity  to  reduce  estimated  costs  and  bring  about  convergence  with existing schemes/ projects.

(c) There  are  about  1,511  Base  Transceiver  Stations  within  10  kilometers  of  the International  Border  in  this  region,  installed  by  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs) namely, M/s Bharti Airtel, M/s Bharti Hexacom, M/s BSNL, M/s Reliance Jio Infocomm, M/s Vodafone Idea. State-wise distribution is provided at Annexure-II.

For  installation  of  mobile  towers  under  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development Plan for  NER,  the  time  frame  is  18  months  from  the  date  of  signing  Agreement  with USOF.

## State-wise distribution of mobile towers envisaged to be installed in NER under USOF programs:

| S.No.   | STATE/UT          |   No. of Villages to be covered |   Number of Towers for Uncovered Villages |   No. of Towers along National Highways |
|---------|-------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 1       | Arunachal Pradesh |                            2805 |                                      1893 |                                     149 |
| 2       | Assam             |                            2503 |                                      1874 |                                      33 |
| 3       | Manipur           |                             528 |                                       384 |                                      53 |
| 4       | Meghalaya         |                            2374 |                                      2162 |                                      11 |
| 5       | Mizoram           |                             252 |                                       227 |                                      19 |
| 6       | Nagaland          |                             134 |                                       112 |                                      48 |
| 7       | Sikkim            |                              23 |                                        19 |                                       1 |
| 8       | Tripura           |                               2 |                                         2 |                                       7 |
|         | TOTAL             |                            8621 |                                      6673 |                                     321 |

Assam

## Annexure-II

BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border in NER is as follows:

| BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   | BTS Count installed by TSPs within 10 KM of International Border is as follows   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr.                                                                              |                                                                                  | India- Bangladesh                                                                | India- Bangladesh                                                                | India- Bangladesh                                                                | India- Bangladesh                                                                | India - Bhutan                                                                   | India - Bhutan                                                                   | India-Myanmar                                                                    | India-Myanmar                                                                    | India-Myanmar                                                                    | India-Myanmar                                                                    | India- China                                                                     | Grand Total                                                                      |
| Sr.                                                                              | TSP Name                                                                         | Meghalaya                                                                        | Tripura                                                                          | Mizoram                                                                          | Assam (within 5 KM)                                                              | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                | Assam (within 5 KM)                                                              | Mizoram                                                                          | Manipur                                                                          | Nagaland                                                                         | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                |                                                                                  |
| 1                                                                                | Bharti Hexacom / Bharti Airtel                                                   | 56                                                                               | 380                                                                              | 4                                                                                | 91                                                                               | 12                                                                               | 18                                                                               | 25                                                                               | 9                                                                                | 11                                                                               | 4                                                                                | 0                                                                                | 610                                                                              |
| 2                                                                                | Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited                                                     | 36                                                                               | 188                                                                              | 3                                                                                | 25                                                                               | 0                                                                                | 1                                                                                | 3                                                                                | 5                                                                                | 7                                                                                | 5                                                                                | 0                                                                                | 273                                                                              |
| 3                                                                                | Reliance Jio                                                                     | 37                                                                               | 151                                                                              | 2                                                                                | 66                                                                               | 0                                                                                | 13                                                                               | 8                                                                                | 3                                                                                | 1                                                                                | 0                                                                                | 0                                                                                | 281                                                                              |
| 4                                                                                | Vodafone Idea                                                                    | 20                                                                               | 255                                                                              | 1                                                                                | 58                                                                               | 0                                                                                | 4                                                                                | 6                                                                                | 3                                                                                | 0                                                                                | 0                                                                                | 0                                                                                | 347                                                                              |
| Total                                                                            | Total                                                                            | 149                                                                              | 974                                                                              | 10                                                                               | 240                                                                              | 12                                                                               | 36                                                                               | 42                                                                               | 20                                                                               | 19                                                                               | 9                                                                                | 0                                                                                | 1511                                                                             |

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