Lok Sabha Question No. 1489 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-28
Subject: Mobile Towers in Far-Flung Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Rajeshbhai Naranbhai Chudasama

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1489 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 th   JULY, 2021

## MOBILE TOWERS IN FAR-FLUNG AREAS

## 1489.   SHRI RAJESHBHAI CHUDASAMA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether Government is taking any steps to install mobile towers in every Panchayat of the country to fulfill the demand of digitalization and strengthen the rural banking system ;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  provide  mobile  towers  in  those  far-flung villages of the country where these towers are not available till now and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the  proposed time-line for installing  mobile  towers in  every  far-flung  villages  and  each panchayat region of the country?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d) Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on the basis of a survey carried out in 2020,has estimated that around 5,72,551 out of 5,97,618 inhabited census villages of the country already  have  mobile  coverage.  25,067  inhabited  villages  do  not  have  mobile  coverage.  The Government through Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) provide Mobile coverage in uncovered villages  in  the  country  in  a  phased  manner.  Government  has  prioritized  the  reach  of  mobile services in remote areas of the country such as North-Eastern States, Islands, Himalayan States, Western Border States and the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas in the first phase. In this regard Government has approved the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) supported schemes/projects to provide/facilitate the mobile and broadband services in rural and remote areas across the country. These schemes are as follows:

- (i) Under  Left  Wing  Extremism  Phase-I  project,  provision  of  mobile  connectivity  at  2355 towers locations in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  Odisha,  Telangana,  Uttar  Pradesh  and  West  Bengal  has  been implemented by Government of India.
- (ii) Under LWE Phase-II project, installation of 2542 mobile towers has been approved for providing mobile services in these states. The Request for Proposal (RFP) has been floated on 11-03-2021 for 2542 towers.
- (iii) Provision of mobile connectivity in 354 villages of uncovered border areas including J&K, Ladakh has also been approved and the agreement has been signed on 28-04-2020. The roll out period of this scheme is up to Oct, 2021.

- (iv) Aspirational  District  Scheme  for  provisioning  of  4G  based  Mobile  service  in  502 uncovered villages in Aspirational Districts of four states Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan has been approved on 20-12-2019 and the work has been awarded.
- (v) Two schemes funded from USOF have been approved for provision of 4G mobile services in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh & two districts of Assam (Karbi Anglong & Dima Hasao) as mentioned below:
- (a) Installation  of  889  mobile  towers  in  1164  uncovered  villages  and  along  National Highways  in  Meghalaya.  The  Agreement  has  been  signed  on  04.09.2020  and  the timeline for completion of the project is 21 months from the signing of Agreement.
- (b) Installation of 980 mobile towers in 1683 uncovered villages in Arunachal Pradesh and 531 mobile towers in 691 uncovered villages in two districts of Assam (Karbi Anglong & Dima Hasao). RFP has been floated on 04.03.2021 for  selection  of  implementing agency. After evaluation, the tender is under approval of the competent authority for award of work. The timeline for implementation of the project is 18 months after the award of the work.

In  addition  to  above,  Department  of  Telecommunications  (DoT)  has  also  taken  several policy  initiatives  to  facilitate  the  infrastructure  growth  for  delivery  of  quality  services.  These initiatives include trading/sharing/liberalisation of spectrum, sharing passive & active infrastructure,  notification  of  Right  of  Way  Rules  2016  and  promoting  the  use  of  government land/buildings for installations of mobile towers etc. These initiatives have resulted in addition of around  16.05  lakh  Base  Transceiver  Stations  (BTSs)  for  2G/3G/4G-LTE  services  by  Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) during the period from March, 2014 (6.49 lakh BTS) to 21th July 2021 (22.54 lakh BTS) across the country.

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