Lok Sabha Question No. 1554 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-27
Subject: Rural and Urban Tele-density
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Ajay Nishad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1554 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH   NOVEMBER, 2019

## RURAL AND URBAN TELE-DENSITY

## †1554. SHRI AJAY NISHAD:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether  rural  tele-density  is  abysmally  low  in  comparison  to  the  urban  tele-density  in  the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof including the rural tele-density and the urban tele-density separately during each of the last three years and the current year along with the reasons therefor;

- (c) whether the overall tele-density in the country is very low in comparison to the international level;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and

(e) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to remove the disparity between the rural and urban tele-density in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) & (b) The  rural  and  urban  tele-density  i.e.  the  number  of  telephone  connections  per  100 inhabitants, during the last three years and current year are given in Annexure-I .

The  Urban  teledensity  is  higher  than  the  rural  teledensity  due  to  easier  access  to    telecom infrastructure  in urban areas.

(c ) & (d) The fixed teledensity and mobile teledesity in India as compared to the international level is given in Annexure-II .

(e) To remove disparity between rural and urban tele-density and  boost telecom infrastructure  in rural  areas,    the  Government  is  implementing    flagship  BharatNet  project  in  a  phased  manner  for providing  connectivity to all the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country by using optimal mix  of  media  like  Optical  Fibre  Cable  (  OFC),  Radio,  satellite  etc.  As  on  07-11-2019  a  total  of 3,80,988 kms of  OFC has been laid and 1,28,376 GPs have been made Service Ready which include 983 GPs connected through satellite.

The Government has also significantly ramped up telecom infrastructure in remote and rural areas including the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States. Under Phase-I, 2343 mobile towers are radiating in 96 LWE districts. Under Phase-II of this project  a provision has been made to install 2217 mobile towers.

The  Government  has  drawn  up  a  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan    for  North Eastern  Region  (NER)  to  install  6673  mobile  towers  at  8621  identified  uncovered  villages,  321 mobile towers along National Highways, and strengthening of transmission network in the NER to provide mobile coverage in villages. As of 31-10-2019, a  total of 946 towers have been installed, out of which 777 towers are radiating.

The Government has also approved a plan to install towers for providing mobile coverage in 354 uncovered villages in Ladakh and Kargil area.

## ANNEXURE-I

Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) & (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question no 1554 to be answered on 27 th  November 2019 regarding Rural and Urban Tele-density

## Teledensity (in percentage)

| As on      |   Rural Areas |   Urban Areas |
|------------|---------------|---------------|
| 31.03.2017 |         56.98 |        171.52 |
| 31.03.2018 |         59.25 |        166.64 |
| 31.03.2019 |         57.5  |        159.66 |
| 31.08.2019 |         56.97 |        161.25 |

Sources: DoT

Annexure referred to in reply of part (c) & (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question no 1554 to be answered on 27 th  November 2019 regarding Rural and Urban Tele-density

| Fixed-telephone teledensity in percentage ( as on December 2018)   |   Fixed-telephone teledensity in percentage ( as on December 2018) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Developed countries                                                |                                                               35.6 |
| Developing countries                                               |                                                                7.4 |
| World                                                              |                                                               12.1 |
| LDCs (Least Developed Countries )                                  |                                                                0.8 |
| India                                                              |                                                                1.7 |

| Mobile-cellular telephone teledensity in percentage (as on December 2018)   |   Mobile-cellular telephone teledensity in percentage (as on December 2018) |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Developed countries                                                         |                                                                       128.9 |
| Developing countries                                                        |                                                                       103.8 |
| World                                                                       |                                                                       108   |
| LDCs (Least Developed Countries)                                            |                                                                        74.9 |
| India                                                                       |                                                                        89.8 |

Source: International Telecommunication Union (ITU), http://www.itu.int/en/ITU- /Statistics/Pages/definitions/regions.aspx

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