Lok Sabha Question No. 6 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-18
Subject: Achievement in Communication Sector
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 06 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18 th   JULY, 2018

## ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMUNICATION SECTOR

- †6. SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  major  achievements  of  the  Government  in  communication  sector during each of the last three years;
- (b) the details of the target set in the said sector during the current financial year; and
- (c) the  details  of  the  action  plan  formulated  by  the  Government  for  the  next  two years to strengthen the aforesaid sector?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) The details of major achievement of the Department of Telecommunications are at Annexure.
- (b) The details of major targets set by the Department of Telecommunications during the current financial year are as under:
- i. To start work under Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Phase-II project, wherein 4072 mobile towers would be set up for providing mobile services in locations identified by MHA.
- ii. To connect the balance Gram Panchayats with last mile high speed broadband connection under the BharatNet Phase II Project.
- iii. To  complete  enhancement  of  satellite  bandwidth  from  1  Gbps  to  2  Gbps  in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
- iv. To  start  work  of  laying  of  submarine  Optical  Fibre  Cable  (OFC)  connectivity between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
- v. To issue National Digital Communications Policy -2018.

- vi. To lay the balance OFC under the Network for Spectrum (NFS) project.
- vii. To set up 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots at existing rural exchanges of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
- viii. To provide connectivity to uncovered villages of the North Eastern Region (NER).
4. (c) The action plan proposed for the next two years are as under:
- i. To  complete  the  ongoing  projects  such  as:  LWE  Phase  II,  NFS,  A&N  Islands connectivity through submarine OFC, connectivity in the NER.
- ii. To  start  work  for  providing  connectivity  between  Kochi  and  Lakshadweep Islands.
- iii. To start work on the objectives of the proposed National Digital Communications Policy -2018, such as:
8. (a) Provide Universal broadband connectivity to every citizen.
9. (b) Provide  1  Gbps  connectivity  to  all  Gram  Panchayats  of  India  by  2020  and  10 Gbps by 2022.
10. (c) Enable  100  Mbps  broadband  on  demand  to  all  key  development  institutions; including all educational institutions.
11. (d) Achieve 'unique mobile subscriber density' of 55 by 2020 and 65 by 2022.
12. (e) Enable deployment of public Wi-Fi Hotspots; to reach 5 million by 2020 and 10 million by 2022.
13. (f) Provide connectivity to all uncovered areas.

## Major Achievements of the Department of Telecommunications during the last three years

Some of the major achievements are:

## 1.  Most Transparent Spectrum Auctions

- a.  Cumulative  1,736  MHz  of  Spectrum  was  auctioned  between  2014  and 2016 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 & 2500 MHz bands
- b.  Spectrum  auction  fetched  highest  ever  upfront  payment  of  nearly  Rs. 65,000 Crores in 2015 and 2016
- c.  DoT  received  an  Excellence  Award  from  CVC  in  November  2017  for 'Transparency in e-auction of spectrum in 2016'

## 2.  Key Reforms in the Telecom Sector

- a.  Spectrum trading and sharing allowed to boost competition
- b.  Spectrum  harmonization  undertaken  resulting  in  freeing  up  of  197  MHz spectrum
- c.  Sharing of Passive (e.g. fibre, towers) and Active (e.g. BTSs) infrastructure allowed
- d.  Deferred payment of liabilities  allowed  for  Telecom  Service  Providers  to reduce financial stress in sector
- e.  Easing of Right of Way (RoW) Rules and charges through notification
- f. Aadhaar based e-KYC for issuing mobile connections enabled
- g.  Full Mobile Number Portability enabled
- h. Virtual Network Operators (VNOs) license introduced for effective infrastructure utilization and to boost services in under-served areas

## 3.  Telecom Infrastructure

- a.  No. of mobile BTS more than doubled from 7.9 Lakh in May 2014 to ~ 18 Lakh in May 2018
- b.  3 Lakh KMOFC laid by Department
- c.  Average of more than 200 KM of OFC laid per day
- d.  1 lakh Gram Panchayatsconnected through High Speed OFC network
- e.  Significant boost to Make-in-India;  Telecom  equipment  deployed in BharatNet has been fully designed, developed and manufactured in India.
- f. Triggered ITI turnaround; turned Profitable for first time in 16 years

## 4.  Improved Coverage of Telecom Services

- a.  Overall Tele-density in the country increased to 93% in March 2018.
- b.  Mobile  Internet  subscriptions  almost  doubled  from  233  Million  in  March 2014 to496 Million in March 2018.
- c.  Over 75% increase in Internet Coverage
- d.  Average mobile data usage per subscriber grew  31 times- from 62  MB per month in 2014 to 1.9 GB per monthin December 2017
- e.  Highest mobile data consumption globallyat 1.5 Billion GB per month
- f. Cheapest tariff globally -Rs. 21 per GB

- g.  More than 350 million broadband subscribers added
5.  Economic Impact
- a.  Huge jump in FDI inflows in Telecom Sector - from $1.3 Bn in 2015-16 to $6.1 Bn in 2017-18
- b.  Digital payment transactions through mobile more than doubledfrom 168 million in November 2016 to 380 million in December 2017.
6.  Other Projects being undertaken (in progress)
- a.  Network for Spectrum
- i. Almost  90%  (51,000  km)  of  OFC  has  been  laid  in  the  past  three years.
- ii. Project with revised estimate of ~ INR 24,000 Crores
- iii. On  completion  of  this  project,  Defence  Forces  will  have  a  fully dedicated and secure network with in-built redundancy
- b.  Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas
- i. 2,335 Towers installed in Phase I, with a total outlay of Rs. 4,781 Cr
- ii. 4,072  Towers  approved  for  installation  in  Phase  II  by  2020,  with total outlay of Rs. 7,330 Cr
- c.  North East Region
- i. Biggest  ever  Telecom  spend  in  North  East  Region  of  Rs.  10,834 Crores (ongoing and planned projects)
- ii. 7,000 telecom towers to be installed for connectivity to over 8,600 villages
- iii. 3,200 KM of OFC network to be laid
- d.  Submarine Cable Connectivity
- i.  Submarine  cable  connectivity  to  mainland  Andaman  &Nicobar islands
- ii.  Intra island connectivity for Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands
- iii. Total outlay of Rs. 2,250 Crores
- e.  Provisioning of Wi-Fi Services
- i. 25,000 hot spots by BSNL in rural exchanges
- ii.  7,000 hot spots (e-Choupals) by Common Service Centers

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