Lok Sabha Question No. 273 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-12
Subject: Internet Broadband Facilities
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: HEMANT TUKARAM GODSE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 273 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12 th   DECEMBER, 2018

## INTERNET BROADBAND FACILITIES

273.   SHRI GODSE HEMANT TUKARAM:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to provide internet broadband facilities to nonelectrified villages and the villages which have less than 100 population;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the villages so far connected, State-wise;
- (c) if not, the State-wise reasons therefor; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to improve the broadband services?

## 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) BharatNet  is  being  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  for  providing broadband  connectivity  to  all  the  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  in  the  country.  Phase-I  of BharatNet for connecting 1 lakh Gram Panchayats has been completed in December, 2017. As on 02.12.2018, a total of 1,16,411 GPs have been made service ready. Statewise list of service ready Gram Panchayats is at Annexure.

Further, as part of the BharatNet project, Telecom Commission on 11.07.2018 has  approved  a  Last  Mile  connectivity  model  for  providing  Wi-Fi  connectivity  to Government institutions. At each GP, 5 Access Points (APs) are being set up, and out of these Access Points, 3 APs are to be installed at Government institutions and 2 APs at public places.

The following  schemes,  funded by  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  (USOF), are also under implementation for providing broadband services through Wi-Fi hotspots in the country:

- (i) Public Wi-Fi hotspots are being set up by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) at its 25,000 Rural Telephone Exchanges.
- (ii) Wi-Fi Choupals are being set up by CSC at 5,000 Gram Panchayats.
- (iii) Wi-Fi hotspots are being set up by RailTel at 200 rural Railway Stations.

So  far,  Wi-Fi  hotspots  have  been  installed  at  39,359  GPs  and  out  of  them, services are being provided in 10,775 GPs, catering to more than 11 lakh subscribers with a data usage of over 50 Tera Bytes (TB) per month.

## State-wise list of Service Ready Gram Panchayats

| S.N.   | Name of State/UTs         |   Number of Service Ready Gram Panchayats |
|--------|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 1.     | Assam                     |                                      1589 |
| 2.     | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |                                         0 |
| 3.     | Andhra Pradesh            |                                      1160 |
| 4.     | Arunachal Pradesh         |                                        43 |
| 5.     | Bihar                     |                                      5865 |
| 6.     | Chandigarh                |                                        13 |
| 7.     | Chhattisgarh              |                                      4052 |
| 8.     | Dadar & Nagar Haveli      |                                        21 |
| 9.     | Daman & Diu               |                                        17 |
| 10.    | Gujarat                   |                                      5113 |
| 11.    | Haryana                   |                                      6186 |
| 12.    | Himachal Pradesh          |                                       226 |
| 13.    | Jammu & Kashmir           |                                       257 |
| 14.    | Jharkhand                 |                                      2302 |
| 15.    | Karnataka                 |                                      6110 |
| 16.    | Kerala                    |                                      1129 |
| 17.    | Madhya Pradesh            |                                     12689 |
| 18.    | Maharashtra               |                                     15126 |
| 19.    | Manipur                   |                                       248 |
| 20.    | Meghalaya                 |                                       122 |
| 21.    | Mizoram                   |                                        19 |
| 22.    | Nagaland                  |                                        86 |
| 23.    | Odisha                    |                                      3470 |
| 24.    | Puducherry                |                                       101 |
| 25.    | Punjab                    |                                      7903 |
| 26.    | Rajasthan                 |                                      8447 |
| 27.    | Sikkim                    |                                        14 |
| 28.    | Telangana                 |                                      2047 |
| 29.    | Tripura                   |                                       527 |
| 30.    | Uttar Pradesh             |                                     27940 |
| 31.    | Uttarakhand               |                                      1508 |
| 32.    | West Bengal               |                                      2081 |
| Total  | Total                     |                                    116411 |

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