Lok Sabha Question No. 483 (STARRED), answered on 2022-04-06
Subject: Mobile Towers connected to Optical Fibre
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Shankar Lalwani, Bharatiben Dhirubhai Shyal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 483 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06 TH  APRIL, 2022

## MOBILE TOWERS CONNECTED TO OPTICAL FIBRE

## †*483. SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI: DR. BHARATIBEN DHIRUBHAI SHIYAL:

| Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:                                                        |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (b) the steps being taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to connect all mobile towers by optical fibre; |
| (c) the details of the obstacles being faced in connecting all mobile towers by optical                         |
| (d) whether the Government has formulated any plan to overcome the said obstacles; and                          |
| (e) if so, the details thereof?                                                                                 |
| ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS& ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)     |
| (a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.                                                       |

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 483 FOR 6 TH  APRIL, 2022 REGARDING 'MOBILE TOWERS CONNECTED TO OPTICAL FIBRE'.

(a) Sir,  Telecom  Service  Providers  fiberise  their  Base  Transceiver  Stations  (BTSs) installed on mobile towers and 7,93,551 BTSs have been connected by optical fibre in the country as on 01.02.2022. The State wise percentage of BTSs connected with Optical Fibre is given at Annexure .

(b) to (e) The  BTS  used  to  provide  mobile  communications  belong  to  the  Telecom Service  Providers  ( TSPs )  and  the  decisions  to  connect  them  through  fibre  or  other  means including microwave is taken by TSPs based on various techno-commercial considerations including  network  capacity  required  at  that  particular  location.  The  major  obstacle  in fiberisation of Telecom Towers, as reported by TSPs, are high charges, complex process and delay involved in getting Right of Way ( ROW ) permissions due to non-alignment of ROW Policy  of  States  with  Indian  Telegraph  Right  of  Way  Rules,  2016  notified  by  the  Central Government.

Government is facilitating the TSPs for laying optical fibre by means of addressing RoW challenges and creating a collaborative institutional mechanism between Centre, States and  Local  Bodies  for  Common  Right  of  Way,  standardization  of  costs  and  timelines  for approval, and removal of barriers for grant of approvals. So far, 32 States/Union Territories have largely aligned their State RoW Policy with Indian Telegraph RoW Rules, 2016. DoT has taken up the development of a Centralized online portal for RoW permissions.

ANNEXURE STATE WISE PERCENTAGE OF BTSs CONNECTED WITH OPTICAL FIBRE AS ON 01.02.2022:

| S. No.   | State/UT          | Total number of BTSs   | Number of BTSs connected with fibre   |   Percentage of BTSs connected with fibre (%) |
|----------|-------------------|------------------------|---------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    | 80,214                 | 29,469                                |                                          36.7 |
| 2        | Andaman &Nicobar  | 702                    | 499                                   |                                          71.1 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh | 4,058                  | 1,436                                 |                                          35.4 |
| 4        | Assam             | 53,448                 | 17,269                                |                                          32.3 |
| 5        | Bihar             | 1,02,938               | 31,055                                |                                          30.2 |
| 6        | Chandigarh        | 3,892                  | 1,608                                 |                                          41.3 |
| 7        | Chattisgarh       | 43,139                 | 13,051                                |                                          30.3 |
| 8        | DNH&DD            | 1,666                  | 504                                   |                                          30.3 |
| 9        | Delhi             | 67,663                 | 30,283                                |                                          44.8 |
| 10       | Goa               | 5,435                  | 2,010                                 |                                          37   |
| 11       | Gujarat           | 1,40,066               | 50,177                                |                                          35.8 |
| 12       | Haryana           | 77,824                 | 27,221                                |                                          35   |
| 13       | Himachal Pradesh  | 24,365                 | 6,447                                 |                                          26.5 |
| 14       | Jammu &Kashmir    | 32,911                 | 13,628                                |                                          41.4 |
| 15       | Jharkhand         | 46,564                 | 15,291                                |                                          32.8 |
| 16       | Karnataka         | 1,47,420               | 52,084                                |                                          35.3 |
| 17       | Kerala            | 92,432                 | 30,024                                |                                          32.5 |
| 18       | Ladakh            | 1,148                  | 637                                   |                                          55.5 |
| 19       | Lakshadweep       | 64                     | 0                                     |                                           0   |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh    | 1,18,763               | 40,701                                |                                          34.3 |
| 21       | Maharashtra       | 2,40,951               | 82,513                                |                                          34.2 |
| 22       | Manipur           | 7,262                  | 2,261                                 |                                          31.1 |
| 23       | Meghalaya         | 6,601                  | 2,274                                 |                                          34.4 |
| 24       | Mizoram           | 3,540                  | 1,080                                 |                                          30.5 |
| 25       | Nagaland          | 5,030                  | 1,329                                 |                                          26.4 |
| 26       | Odisha            | 69,936                 | 23,016                                |                                          32.9 |
| 27       | Puducherry        | 2,490                  | 1,168                                 |                                          46.9 |
| 28       | Punjab            | 78,949                 | 26,332                                |                                          33.4 |
| 29       | Rajasthan         | 1,26,912               | 42,391                                |                                          33.4 |
| 30       | Sikkim            | 2,393                  | 859                                   |                                          35.9 |
| 31       | Tamil Nadu        | 1,58,631               | 62,624                                |                                          39.5 |
| 32       | Telangana         | 86,051                 | 31,499                                |                                          36.6 |
| 33       | Tripura           | 7,875                  | 2,768                                 |                                          35.1 |
| 34       | Uttarakhand       | 29,835                 | 9,952                                 |                                          33.4 |
| 35       | Uttar Pradesh     | 2,89,326               | 89,058                                |                                          30.8 |
| 36       | West Bengal       | 1,46,574               | 51,033                                |                                          34.8 |
|          | TOTAL             | 23,07,068              | 7,93,551                              |                                          34.4 |

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