Lok Sabha Question No. 4667 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-29
Subject: Mobile Towers in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Reddeppa Nallakonda Gari, Goddeti Madhavi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4667 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29 TH  MARCH, 2023

## MOBILE TOWERS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

## 4667.   SHRI N. REDDEPPA:

## SHRIMATI GODDETI MADHAVI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the mobile towers in Andhra Pradesh in 2022, district-wise;
- (b) whether there are plans for the installation of new mobile towers in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has allocated any funds from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) towards improving infrastructure in any parts of Andhra Pradesh;
- (e) if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the details of the schemes that the Government has adopted for providing mobile services in Tribal and remote areas and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

- (a) District wise number of Mobile Towers in Andhra Pradesh State (as on 31-12-2022) attached at Annexure-I
- (b) to (f) Government is implementing various schemes under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to enhance telecom connectivity in the rural, remote, tribal and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected  areas  of  the  country  including  Andhra  Pradesh.  The  details  of  the  schemes  are attached at Annexure-II .

Government  has  allocated  funds  from  the  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  (USOF) towards improving infrastructure in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh. The details of the funds are as below:

|   Sr No | Scheme name            | Funds Outlay for AP (Cr)   | Total villages under the scheme   |
|---------|------------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|       1 | LWE Phase I            | 108                        | 62                                |
|       2 | LWE Phase II           | 299                        | 346                               |
|       3 | Aspirational Districts | 603                        | 1,218                             |
|       4 | 4G Saturation Scheme   | 2,825                      | 3,163                             |
|       5 | Bharat Net Scheme      | 875                        | 5206(Gram Panchayats)             |

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4667 to be answered on 29 th   March, 2023 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Mobile Towers in Andhra Pradesh'

## District wise details of Mobile Towers in Andhra Pradesh as on 31-12-2022

| Sl No       | Name of District             | No of Mobile Towers   |
|-------------|------------------------------|-----------------------|
| 1           | Alluri Sitharama Raju        | 10                    |
| 2           | Anakapalli                   | 7                     |
| 3           | Ananthapur                   | 2570                  |
| 4           | Annamayya                    | 17                    |
| 5           | Bapatla                      | 16                    |
| 6           | Chittoor                     | 2556                  |
| 7           | Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Konaseema | 3                     |
| 8           | East Godavari                | 2299                  |
| 9           | Eluru                        | 9                     |
| 10          | Guntur                       | 2516                  |
| 11          | Kakinada                     | 18                    |
| 12          | Krishna                      | 2449                  |
| 13          | Kurnool                      | 2037                  |
| 14          | Nandyal                      | 27                    |
| 15          | Ntr                          | 11                    |
| 16          | Palnadu                      | 18                    |
| 17          | Parvathipuram Manyam         | 3                     |
| 18          | Prakasam                     | 1678                  |
| 19          | Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore  | 1480                  |
| 20          | Sri Sathya Sai               | 19                    |
| 21          | Srikakulam                   | 1178                  |
| 22          | Tirupati                     | 34                    |
| 23          | Visakhapatnam                | 2521                  |
| 24          | Vizianagaram                 | 1035                  |
| 25          | West Godavari                | 1921                  |
| 26          | Y S R                        | 1695                  |
| Total 26127 | Total 26127                  | Total 26127           |

Annexure referred to in reply of part (b) to (f) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4667 to be answered on 29 th  March, 2023 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Mobile Towers in Andhra Pradesh'

Details of schemes/projects to improve the communication network/system in rural, tribal and hilly areas across the country:

- i. Under LWE Phase-I scheme, 2,343 mobile towers have been installed in LWE areas which including 96 mobile towers of the State of West Bengal and are providing services. Under LWE Phase-II scheme, 2,542 mobile towers at Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) identified locations are approved across the LWE States;
- ii. Scheme  for  providing  mobile  connectivity  in  354  villages  of  uncovered  border  areas including Ladakh and Kargil Region, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other priority areas.;
- iii. Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region to provide mobile coverage in uncovered villages and along with the National Highways;
- iv. Scheme for providing 4G mobile connectivity in 502 uncovered villages of Aspirational Districts in four States, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan;
- v. Scheme  for  provisioning  of  4G  based  Mobile  service  in  7287  uncovered  villages  of Aspirational Districts of 5 States Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha;
- vi. Laying of submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- vii. Submarine OFC connectivity between Kochi and Lakshadweep Islands.
- viii. Mobile connectivity to cover uncovered villages and along National Highway (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- ix. USOF 4G Saturation Scheme to cover 24,680 uncovered villages with 4G and 6,279 villages having 2G/3G connectivity are to be upgraded to 4G.
- x. BharatNet project to create network to connect all the Gram Panchayats and villages with broadband infrastructure.

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