Lok Sabha Question No. 1726 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-21
Subject: Network Issues in Rural Areas of Tamil Nadu
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: V. Kalanidhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1726 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21 ST  SEPTEMBER, 2020

## NETWORK ISSUES IN RURAL AREAS OF TAMIL NADU

## †1726. DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of rural areas/villages that are facing network issues within Tamil Nadu;
- (b) the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) whether the Government has prepared a roadmap in this regard;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government has set a target to sort out these issues; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, EDUCATION AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

- (a) Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  has  been  monitoring  the  performance  of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) against the benchmarks for various Quality of Service parameters laid  down  by  TRAI  by  way  of  Quality  of  Service  regulations  issued  from  time  to  time,  through Quarterly  Performance  Monitoring  Reports  (PMRs).  The  performance  is  assessed  for  a  License Service  Area  (LSA)  as  a  whole.  Hence,  no  separate  information  regarding  network  issues  in  rural areas/  villages  is  available  in  TRAI.  As  per  PMR  for  the  quarter  ending  March  2020,  for  Cellular Mobile Telephone Services all TSPs are complying with benchmarks for all the parameters in Tamil Nadu service area.

As per data collected from Department of Telecommunications (DoT) field unit, Tamil Nadu LSA, 49 villages out of 15049 inhabited villages in Tamil Nadu are not covered by mobile services.

(b) TRAI  has  laid  down  the  standards  of  Quality  of  Service  for  Basic  Telephone  Service (Wireline)  and  Cellular  Mobile  Telephone  Service  Regulations,  2009  dated  20 th March  2009  and amended from time to time for mobile network service providers to improve the mobile connectivity. Wherever the standard/benchmark is not met, the explanation of the service providers is called for by TRAI  and  after  considering  the  explanation  submitted  by  service  providers  in  this  regard,  TRAI imposes financial disincentives for non-compliance with the benchmark.

(c) Mobile coverage in the uncovered villages is being provided by Government and TSPs in a phased  manner.  In  the  last  three  financial  years,  24,657  number  of  additional  Base  Transceiver Stations (BTSs) have been installed in rural areas/villages of Tamil Nadu. TSPs have also planned for additional  542  BTSs  in  rural  areas/villages  of  Tamil  Nadu  during  the  year  2020-21.  Further,  new mobile towers/ BTSs are being installed by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) on continuous basis to improve coverage and/or capacity of their networks based on techno-commercial assessments.

(d) Tamil Nadu LSA in coordination with the various stakeholders viz. State Government, local authorities  and  TSPs  etc.,  facilitate  for  the  growth  of  telecom  infrastructure  in  the  LSA.  State Government of Tamil Nadu has been requested to expedite the issue of  Permits for installation of mobile towers. TSPs have also been requested to augment the existing capacity of their network in order to improve mobile connectivity, wherever feasible.

The Government has also taken several policy initiatives to facilitate infrastructure growth in the country which include permitting trading/sharing/liberalization of spectrum, permitting passive & active infrastructure sharing, notification of Right of Way Rules 2016, carrying out Electro Magnetic Field  (EMF) awareness campaign to dispel the misgivings to the public regarding EMF radiations emission from mobile towers through print and electronic media etc.

(e) TSPs undertake Radio Frequency (RF) Optimization process on a continuous basis to improve network connectivity.  Further,  TSPs  have  also  been  requested  to  augment  the  existing  capacity  of their network in order to improve mobile connectivity, wherever feasible.

(f) TSPs have planned for additional 542 BTSs in rural areas/villages of Tamil Nadu during the year 2020-21.

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