Lok Sabha Question No. 5514 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-05
Subject: Telecom Towers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5514 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH  APRIL, 2023

## TELECOM TOWERS

## 5514.   SHRI JASWANT SINGH BHABHOR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) the  details  about  the  number  of  villages  in  the  country  where  telecom  towers  have  been installed during the last one year in Gujarat, district-wise;

(b) the details of the number of telecom towers that the Government is planning to install in the current and the next year; and

(c) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to improve telecommunication network in villages and remote areas?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) As  per  data  received  from  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs),  field  units  of Department of Telecom and State Governments as of March '2022, out of 6,44,131 villages (villages are as per data of Registrar General of India as of November 2019) in the country, around 6,05,230 villages are having mobile coverage. In Gujarat, there are 18425 villages, out of which 17858 villages have  mobile  connectivity  and  out  of  these,  17704  villages  are  covered  with  3G/4G  mobile connectivity. Details of District wise coverage and Mobile Towers/BTS installed in Gujarat is at Annexure-I .

Government  and  Telecom  Service  Providers  (TSPs)  install  Telecom  towers  to  provide telecommunication connectivity in the country in a phased manner. Government through funding from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is implementing various schemes for providing mobile network coverage in all uncovered villages of the country including Gujarat. Through these schemes, mobile connectivity is planned in 610 villages of Gujarat State. The list of major USOF schemes is at Annexure-II . Also, to facilitate faster and easier deployment of telecom infrastructure, across the country the Government has formulated the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 amended in 2017, 2021 and 2022.

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5514 to be answered on 5 th  April, 2023 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Telecom Towers'

District wise coverage details of Gujarat:

| District Name   |   Total no. of Villages as per RGI Data (30-11- 2019) |   No. of Villages having mobile connectivity |   No. of villages having 3G /4G coverage |   The number of villages in the rural area where Telecom Towers have been installed in the last 3 years and current year (No. of Villages is to be given) |
|-----------------|-------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Ahmedabad       |                                                   456 |                                          451 |                                      451 |                                                                                                                                                       396 |
| Amreli          |                                                   620 |                                          613 |                                      613 |                                                                                                                                                       189 |
| Anand           |                                                   349 |                                          348 |                                      348 |                                                                                                                                                       231 |
| Arvalli         |                                                   682 |                                          677 |                                      677 |                                                                                                                                                        54 |
| Banas Kantha    |                                                  1245 |                                         1226 |                                     1223 |                                                                                                                                                       468 |
| Bharuch         |                                                   663 |                                          652 |                                      652 |                                                                                                                                                       266 |
| Bhavnagar       |                                                   684 |                                          673 |                                      673 |                                                                                                                                                       314 |
| Botad           |                                                   187 |                                          186 |                                      186 |                                                                                                                                                        46 |
| Chhotaudepur    |                                                   896 |                                          882 |                                      880 |                                                                                                                                                        41 |
| Dahod           |                                                   694 |                                          685 |                                      683 |                                                                                                                                                        95 |
| Devbhumi Dwarka |                                                   283 |                                          274 |                                      272 |                                                                                                                                                        61 |
| Gandhinagar     |                                                   262 |                                          262 |                                      262 |                                                                                                                                                       302 |
| Gir Somnath     |                                                   452 |                                          371 |                                      364 |                                                                                                                                                        70 |
| Jamnagar        |                                                   416 |                                          409 |                                      407 |                                                                                                                                                       310 |
| Junagadh        |                                                   579 |                                          544 |                                      540 |                                                                                                                                                       321 |
| Kachchh         |                                                   934 |                                          858 |                                      846 |                                                                                                                                                       395 |
| Kheda           |                                                   523 |                                          523 |                                      523 |                                                                                                                                                       311 |
| Mahesana        |                                                   612 |                                          612 |                                      612 |                                                                                                                                                       335 |
| Mahisagar       |                                                   713 |                                          708 |                                      707 |                                                                                                                                                        51 |
| Morbi           |                                                   346 |                                          342 |                                      342 |                                                                                                                                                       220 |
| Narmada         |                                                   611 |                                          580 |                                      572 |                                                                                                                                                        89 |
| Navsari         |                                                   381 |                                          379 |                                      376 |                                                                                                                                                       106 |
| Panch Mahals    |                                                   598 |                                          595 |                                      595 |                                                                                                                                                       218 |
| Patan           |                                                   514 |                                          508 |                                      508 |                                                                                                                                                       196 |
| Porbandar       |                                                   181 |                                          171 |                                      169 |                                                                                                                                                        60 |
| Rajkot          |                                                   594 |                                          592 |                                      591 |                                                                                                                                                       364 |
| Sabar Kantha    |                                                   706 |                                          700 |                                      698 |                                                                                                                                                       301 |
| Surat           |                                                   719 |                                          701 |                                      700 |                                                                                                                                                       393 |
| Surendranagar   |                                                   574 |                                          563 |                                      563 |                                                                                                                                                       213 |
| Tapi            |                                                   532 |                                          471 |                                      470 |                                                                                                                                                        66 |
| The Dangs       |                                                   310 |                                          224 |                                      142 |                                                                                                                                                        40 |
| Vadodara        |                                                   655 |                                          654 |                                      654 |                                                                                                                                                       338 |
| Valsad          |                                                   454 |                                          424 |                                      405 |                                                                                                                                                       115 |
| Grand Total     |                                                 18425 |                                        17858 |                                    17704 |                                                                                                                                                      6975 |

Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5514 to be answered on 5 th  April, 2023 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Telecom Towers'

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

- i. 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.  The estimated project cost is Rs. 26,316 Cr.
- ii. Provision of 4G  Mobile  Services in North Eastern Region  of the country under Comprehensive Telecom Development Program for NER. The estimated cost for schemes is Rs. 3637 Cr.
- iii. Hiring  of  10  Gbps  International  Bandwidth  through  BSNL  for  Internet  Connectivity  to Agartala from BSCCL, Bangladesh via Cox Bazar. Approval has been issued for hiring of additional 10 Gbps International Bandwidth also.
- iv. Provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 354 uncovered villages of J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Border area & other priority areas. The estimated project cost is Rs. 337 Cr.
- v. Provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 7,287 Aspirational District villages (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha). The estimated cost for projects is Rs. 6466 Cr.
- vi. Under  LWE  Phase-I  scheme,  2,343  mobile  towers  have  been  installed  in  LWE  areas. Provision for upgradation of LWE Phase-I from 2G to 4G has also been made. The estimated project cost is Rs. 3567 Cr.
- vii. Under LWE Phase-II scheme, 2,542 mobile towers at Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) identified locations are approved across the LWE States for provision of 4G mobile services. The estimated project cost is Rs. 2211 Cr.
- viii. Scheme for providing 4G mobile connectivity in 502 uncovered villages of Aspirational Districts in four States, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The estimated project cost is Rs. 686 Cr.
- ix. Provision  of  4G  Mobile  Coverage  in  85  uncovered  Villages  and  seamless  4G  Mobile coverage of NH223 in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The estimated project cost is Rs. 130 Cr.
- x. Laying of submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The estimated project cost is Rs. 1224 Cr.
- xi. Submarine  OFC  connectivity  between  Kochi  and  Lakshadweep  Islands.  The  estimated project cost is Rs. 1072 Cr.
- xii. BharatNet project to create network to connect all the Gram Panchayats and villages with broadband  infrastructure.  The  total  funding  of  the  BharatNet  (Phase-I  and  Phase-II), approved by the Cabinet, is Rs 42,068 crores (exclusive of GST, Octroi and local taxes).

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