Lok Sabha Question No. 639 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Setting up of Mobile Towers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Khan Saumitra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 639 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  JULY, 2022

## SETTING UP OF MOBILE TOWERS

## 639. SHRI SAUMITRA KHAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the steps taken by the Government to expedite the setting up of mobile towers in tribal and hilly areas of the country including West Bengal to address the problem of poor connectivity;
- (b) the steps taken by the Government to improve the reach and quality of broadband services of BSNL in rural areas in view of huge increase in internet consumption on account of online education during the pandemic years;
- (c) whether the Government is planning to provide BSNL broadband connections in rural areas and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to provide such connections in rural areas of South part region of West Bengal; and
- (d) the time by which all the rural areas will be connected with broadband services of BSNL?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Sir,  the  Government  through  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  (USOF)  and  Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) provides Mobile coverage in rural, tribal and hilly areas of the country including  the  State  of  West  Bengal  in  a  phased  manner.  Government  has  approved  various schemes/projects through USOF for providing mobile and broadband coverage in rural, tribal and hilly areas across the country. The details of the schemes are attached as Annexure .
- (b) to (d) The Government has approved the revival plan for BSNL on 23.10.2019, which, inter-alia,  includes  administrative  allotment  of  spectrum  for  providing  4G  services.  With  the launch of 4G services on PAN-India basis, reach and quality of BSNL wireless broadband services will expand in the country including in rural areas of West Bengal.

In addition to above, BSNL provides Fibre to the Home (FTTH) services in the country including rural areas and has taken various steps including extension of Public Data Office (PDO) services to rural areas. The operation and maintenance of Bharatnet has been given to BSNL, to further enhance the provisioning of FTTH connections in the rural areas of the country including West Bengal. With these efforts, during the period 2015-16 to 2022-23 (up to 30.06.2022), BSNL added 22,10,644 FTTH connections with an average year on year growth rate of 71.65%.

## DETAILS OF SCHEMES/PROJECTS TO PROVIDE/FACILITATE THE MOBILE AND BROADBAND SERVICES IN RURAL, TRIBAL AND HILLY AREAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY:

- i. Under Phase-I of Left Wing Extremism affected areas (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  which  includes  33  locations  of  the  State  of  West Bengal;
- 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 including one(1) village of the State of West Bengal;
- 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. Mobile connectivity to  cover  uncovered  villages  and  along  National  Highway  (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- viii. Mobile connectivity has been enhanced in Lakshadweep Islands by installing 10 mobile towers;
- ix. Satellite bandwidth augmentation upto 4 Gbps for Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- x. Satellite bandwidth augmentation upto 1.71 Gbps for Lakshadweep Islands.

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