Lok Sabha Question No. 5186 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-24
Subject: Mobile Network in Eastern Ghats
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Achyutananda Samanta

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5186 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24 TH   JULY, 2019

## MOBILE NETWORK IN EASTERN GHATS

## 5186. SHRI ACHYUTANANDA SAMANTA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  many  areas  of  the  district  of  Kandhamal  and  many other  regions  in  the  hilly  terrain  of  the  Eastern  Ghats  do  not  receive  adequate  mobile  network connectivity  from  either  the  Private  Telecom  Service  Providers  or  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited (BSNL);
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (c) the time by which the telecom connectivity and network coverage are likely to be improved in the aforesaid areas and the expenditure likely to be incurred thereon?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) Yes Sir, Some villages in Kandhamal  and hilly terrains of Eastern Ghats do not have mobile network connectivity from either the Private Telecom Service Providers or Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). As per Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), the difficult geographic terrain, sparsely populated villages with very low population size, lower level of economic activities etc. pose techno-commercial challenges in making available mobile services on universal basis. Further lack of feasibility of cost-effective back-haul transmission is also a barrier against provision of the services. Major portion of Kandhamal district is covered with forests. Out of 2587 villages in the district of Kandhamal, 768 villages are covered by telecom services and 1819 villages are uncovered. As per the data collected from the telecom service providers in year 2018, total number of uncovered inhabited villages in the States constituting the hilly terrains of Eastern Ghats, namely Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,  Tamil  Nadu  &  Kerala  (including  the  information  received  from  field  units  of  the department) is attached at Annexure -I.

Mobile  coverage  in  the  uncovered  villages  in  the  country,  is  being  provided  in  a  phased manner  by  the  Government  and  TSPs.  Following  projects  are  being  implemented  for  providing/ facilitating telecom services in inhabited uncovered villages:

(i) Under  Left  Wing  Extremism  affected  areas  Phase-II  project,  Government  has  approved installation  of  3465  mobile  towers  (total  outlay  of  Rs.  5024  Crore)  for  providing  mobile

connectivity including 252 mobile towers in Odisha. Under Left Wing Extremism (LWE) PhaseI project, 23 towers have been installed in Kandhamal District.

(ii) BharatNet  project  is  being  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  provide  broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country, including Kandhamal and hilly terrain of the Eastern Ghats.  As on 04.07.2019, by laying 3,45,779 km Optical Fibre Cable  (OFC),  a  total  of  1,31,392  GPs  have  been  connected,  out  of  which  1,20,562  Gram Panchayats (GPs) have been made Service Ready. In addition, 854 GPs have been made Service Ready on satellite media.

Kandhamal  District  has  about  160  GPs.  As  on  04.07.2019,  141  GPs  have  been connected on OFC, out of which 136 Gram Panchayats (GPs) have been made Service Ready.

As part of this project, the last mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband technology, is  being  provided  at  all  the  GPs  in  the  country.  Further,  the  Digital Communications  Commission  (DCC)  on  13.06.2019  has  approved  to  award  the  work  of provisioning of 2 Wi-Fi Access Points (APs) in each of the 90,000 GPs of BharatNet Phase-I in  all  the  States  (including  Kandhamal  District  of  Odisha  and  hilly  terrain  of  the  Eastern Ghats), except where Wi-Fi APs are provided under USOF schemes.

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in reply of para (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5186 to be answered  on  24th  July,  2019  raised  by  Hon'ble  Member  of  Parliament,  Shri  Achyutananda Samanta regarding 'Mobile Network in Eastern Ghats'

## No. of inhabited villages without mobile services & information related to the states of Eastern Ghats

|   Sl. No. | State/UT       | No. of inhabited villages without mobile services   | Information related to Eastern Ghats                                                                                                                                                                           |
|-----------|----------------|-----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh | 2745                                                | There are 2562 uncovered villages in the Eastern Ghats area of Andhra Pradesh (9 districts)                                                                                                                    |
|         2 | Karnataka      | 869                                                 | The Eastern Ghats are not prominent in Karnataka                                                                                                                                                               |
|         3 | Kerala         | Nil                                                 | -                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|         4 | Odisha         | 9940                                                | Major portion of Kandhamal district is covered with forests. Out of 2587 villages in the district of Kandhamal, 768 villages are covered by telecom services and 1819 villages are uncovered.                  |
|         5 | Tamil Nadu     | 83                                                  | In Tamil Nadu Easter Ghats, three hilly regions viz. Jawadu Hills, Kalrayan Hills and KolliHills are available with 104 inhabited villages and out of these 31 villages are not provided with mobile coverage. |

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