Lok Sabha Question No. 303 (STARRED), answered on 2019-01-02
Subject: Telecommunication Services
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: NISHIKANT  DUBEY, RAJESH PANDEY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.303 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND  JANUARY, 2019

## TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES

- *303.  SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY: SHRI RAJESH PANDEY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  schemes  prepared  by  the  Government  for  extension  of telecommunication services in tribal and naxal affected areas of the country;
- (b) the  target  fixed  and  achieved  by  the  Government  with  regard  to  extension  of telecommunication services across the country, State/UT-wise; and
- (c) the funds allocated/spent 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) 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.  *303  FOR  2 ND JANUARY, 2019  ON 'TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES'.

(a)  to  (c):  Following  schemes  are  being  implemented  by  Government  for  providing telecom services in tribal and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas:

## I.   Mobile connectivity in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas:

(1)      LWE  Phase-I  project: Government has set up 2343 mobile towers under LWE Phase-I project. Details are at Annexure-I

(2)    LWE  Phase-II  project: Government has approved a project for providing mobile connectivity  in  the  4072  identified  locations  in  Left  wing  Extremism  affected  areas  on 23.05.2018. State-wise list is at Annexure-II .

II.        BharatNet  project: BharatNet project is being implemented to create broadband infrastructure  for  provision  of  connectivity  to  all  2.5  lakh  (approx.)  Gram  Panchayats (GPs) in the country, including in tribal and naxal affected areas. As on 23.12.2018, a total of 1,16,590 GPs have been made Service Ready, and for the remaining GPs, the implementation is underway. State/ UT-wise details are at Annexure-III .

As  part  of  BharatNet  project,  the  Last  Mile  connectivity,  through  Wi-Fi  or  any other  suitable  broadband  technology  to  access  broadband  /internet  services  is  being provided at all the GPs in the country, including in tribal and naxal affected areas. On an average, 5 Wi-Fi Access Points (APs) are being provided at each GP. Of these, 3 APs will  be  connected  to  Government  Institutions  such  as  Police  Stations,  Schools, Hospitals, and Post Offices, while 2 APs will be available for public use. So far, Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed at 39,379 GPs and of these, services are being provided in 10,943 GPs.

III.      Comprehensive Telecom Development Project for the North-Eastern Region (NER): Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Project  for  the  North-Eastern  Region (NER) to install 6673 mobile towers for 8621 identified uncovered villages, 321 mobile towers for National Highways and strengthening of transmission network in the NER is being implemented. Details are at Annexure-IV.

## IV.    Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands:

(i)  Submarine  Optical  Fibre  Cable  connectivity  between  Chennai  and  Andaman  & Nicobar Islands.

(ii) Satellite Bandwidth Augmentation for Andaman & Nicobar from 260 Mbps to 2 Gbps and augmentation of Intra Island OFC network in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

(iii) Mobile connectivity in Andaman & Nicobar Islands to cover uncovered villages and seamless coverage on National Highway (NH 223).

(iv) Lakshadweep: Augmentation of Satellite bandwidth from 102 Mbps to 1.71 Gbps.

Rs. 19334 crore has been disbursed under BharatNet project for all States/UTs of the country. In addition, Rs. 2713.52 crore has been disbursed by Universal Service Obligation  Fund  (USOF) for three  schemes,  namely,  mobile  connectivity  in  Left Wing Extremism affected areas,  Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the NorthEastern  Region  and  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  Andaman  & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Islands.

## Details of Mobile Towers set up under LWE Phase-I

| Sl. No.   | State          |   No. of sites set up |
|-----------|----------------|-----------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh |                    62 |
| 2         | Bihar          |                   250 |
| 3         | Chhattisgarh   |                   525 |
| 4         | Jharkhand      |                   816 |
| 5         | Maharashtra    |                    65 |
| 6         | Madhya Pradesh |                    22 |
| 7         | Odisha         |                   256 |
| 8         | Telangana      |                   173 |
| 9         | Uttar Pradesh  |                    78 |
| 10        | West Bengal    |                    96 |
|           | Total          |                  2343 |

## Annexure -I

## Annexure-II

## State wise list of mobile towers proposed to be installed in LWE Phase-II

| S.No.   | State          |   No. of Districts |   No. of Mobile Towers |
|---------|----------------|--------------------|------------------------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh |                  8 |                    429 |
| 2       | Bihar          |                  8 |                    412 |
| 3       | Chhattisgarh   |                 16 |                   1028 |
| 4       | Jharkhand      |                 21 |                   1054 |
| 5       | Madhya Pradesh |                  1 |                     26 |
| 6       | Maharashtra    |                  2 |                    136 |
| 7       | Odisha         |                 18 |                    483 |
| 8       | Telangana      |                 14 |                    118 |
| 9       | Uttar Pradesh  |                  3 |                    179 |
| 10      | West Bengal    |                  5 |                    207 |
|         | Total          |                 96 |                   4072 |

## Annexure-III

## State-wise details of service ready Gram Panchayats (GPs)

| Sr. No   | State/UT                  |   Service Ready GPs |
|----------|---------------------------|---------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh            |                1227 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh         |                  43 |
| 3        | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |                   0 |
| 4        | Assam                     |                1590 |
| 5        | Bihar                     |                5865 |
| 6        | Chandigarh                |                  13 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh              |                4052 |
| 8        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli      |                  21 |
| 9        | Daman & Diu               |                  17 |
| 10       | Gujarat                   |                5119 |
| 11       | Haryana                   |                6186 |
| 12       | Himachal Pradesh          |                 226 |
| 13       | Jammu & Kashmir           |                 263 |
| 14       | Jharkhand                 |                2320 |
| 15       | Karnataka                 |                6110 |
| 16       | Kerala                    |                1129 |
| 17       | Madhya Pradesh            |               12691 |
| 18       | Maharashtra               |               15126 |
| 19       | Manipur                   |                 255 |
| 20       | Meghalaya                 |                 122 |
| 21       | Mizoram                   |                  23 |
| 22       | Nagaland                  |                  86 |
| 23       | Odisha                    |                3501 |
| 24       | Puducherry                |                 101 |
| 25       | Punjab                    |                7911 |
| 26       | Rajasthan                 |                8452 |
| 27       | Sikkim                    |                  14 |
| 28       | Tamil Nadu                |                   0 |
| 29       | Telangana                 |                2047 |
| 30       | Tripura                   |                 527 |
| 31       | Uttar Pradesh             |               27964 |
| 32       | Uttarakhand               |                1508 |
| 33       | West Bengal               |                2081 |
|          | Total                     |              116590 |

## Annexure-IV

State-wise list of mobile towers to be installed in the North Eastern Region

| S.N.   | State             |   No. of uncovered villages |   No. of Tower Planned to be installed |   No. of Towers planned to be installed along with National Highway |
|--------|-------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 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      | Tripura           |                           2 |                                      2 |                                                                   7 |
| 8      | Sikkim            |                          23 |                                     19 |                                                                   1 |
|        | Total             |                        8621 |                                   6673 |                                                                 321 |

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