Lok Sabha Question No. 331 (STARRED), answered on 2019-12-11
Subject: Services of BSNL
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 331 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH   DECEMBER, 2019

## SERVICES OF BSNL

## *331.   DR. SUJAY RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE PATIL: SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the condition of mobile, landline telephone and internet services of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in rural and remote areas is poor and unsatisfactory  and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the details of the districts in Maharashtra in terms of poor service and the remedial measures taken/proposed by the Government to bring improvement in the services;

(c) the  details  of  proposed  base  tower  stations  to  be  established  in  less  accessible  areas  in Maharashtra;

(d) whether a large number of base tower stations in rural and remote areas are not functioning and there is no adequate power back up due to lack of fuel or theft of allocated diesel for electric generators; and

(e) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  corrective  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to improve this condition?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *331 FOR 11 TH  DECEMBER, 2019  ON 'SERVICES OF BSNL'.

(a) & (b) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been monitoring the performance of  service  providers  including  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL)  against  the  benchmark  for various  Quality  of  Service  (QoS)  parameters  laid  down  by  TRAI  through  QoS  regulations  issued from time to time. This monitoring of performance on QoS parameters is done by way of reporting of performances  to  TRAI  by  service  providers  through  quarterly  Performance  Monitoring  Reports (PMRs) and the performance is assessed for the service area as a whole.

As per PMR issued by TRAI for the quarter ending September 2019, BSNL is meeting all the benchmarks  for  basic  (wireline),  Cellular  Mobile  and  broadband  services  in  all  of  its  Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) including Maharashtra, except for the parameter for call drops in West Bengal LSA.

(c) As per data collected  from  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  and  Department  of  Telecom (DoT) field units in 2019, out of total 40,959 inhabited villages (as per census 2011) in Maharashtra State,  37,970 inhabited villages are covered by mobile services. Mobile coverage in the uncovered villages is being provided by the Government and TSPs in a phased manner. The following projects are approved/ implemented by the Government for improving mobile connectivity in rural and remote areas in the country including Maharashtra State:

- i. Under  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected  areas  Phase-I  project,  65  mobile  towers  in Maharashtra state (Gadchiroli -42, Gondia- 17 and Chandrapur- 06) have been installed.
- ii. Under LWE affected areas Phase-II project, the Government has approved installation of 125 mobile towers (Gadchiroli - 100, Gondia- 22 and Chandrapur - 03) in Maharashtra state.
- iii. Under BharatNet Project, out of 27,909 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in Maharashtra state, 18,059 GPs have been connected by laying 46,906 Kilometers of Optical Fiber Cable (OFC), out of which 15,245 GPs have been made service ready.

Additionally, BSNL has informed that in Maharashtra circle, 15,400 Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) are presently  working.  Additional  555  2G,  640  3G  and  123  4G  BTSs  will  be  installed  by 31.03.2020.

(d) & (e) BSNL  has  informed  that  due  to  poor  financial  condition  and  paucity  of  funds  in BSNL, some BTSs get affected due to disconnection of electric supply and shortage of diesel. No case of theft is reported. BSNL always endeavours to improve its services and measures including round the clock maintenance of network, drive tests, data analysis and other corrective measures are undertaken.

Further, the Cabinet in the meeting held on 23.10.2019 approved the revival plan for BSNL. With the revival plan, it is expected that BSNL will turn around and will be able to further improve services. The revival plan also includes administrative allotment of spectrum to BSNL for providing 4G services.

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