Lok Sabha Question No. 1637 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-08
Subject: National Broadband Mission
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Pradeep Kumar Singh, Sunil Kumar Singh, Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar, Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre, Shivkumar Chanabasappa Udasi, Lallu Singh, Sumedhanand Saraswati

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1637 TO BE ANSWERED ON 8 TH  DECEMBER, 2021

## NATIONAL BROADBAND MISSION

## 1637.   SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

SHRI RANJEETSINGH HINDURAO NAIK NIMBALKAR:

SHRI SUDHAKAR TUKARAM SHRANGARE:

SHRI SHIVAKUMAR C. UDASI:

SHRI LALLU SINGH:

SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) the  number  of  mobile  towers  installation  target  across  the  country  vis-a-vis  mobile  towers actually installed under National Broadband Mission;

(b) the  reasons  for  very  slow  progress  in  installation  of  mobile  towers  especially  in  cities  and towns;

(c) the time by which the broadband access is likely to be provided to all the villages across the country,  particularly  in  the  States  of  Bihar,  Maharashtra,  Karnataka,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Rajasthan  and Jharkhand?

## ANSWER

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

(a) Under  National  Broadband  Mission  (NBM),  against  the  cumulative  number  of  8  lakh Telecom Towers to be installed till the current financial year, around 6.9 lakh Telecom Towers have been installed cumulatively by stakeholders.

(b) Telecom  Services  Providers  (TSPs)  install  towers  as  per  their  techno-commercial  viability and to fulfil the rollout obligation criteria as per their License Conditions. Mobile Towers are also installed in rural and remote areas under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) schemes as per requirement.  Multiple  factors  such  as,  non-availability  of  suitable  places,  transportation  difficulties and  various  procedural  formalities  from  local  administration/  agencies  in  getting  permission  for installations  of  Towers,  are  some  of  common  reasons  of  slow  progress  of  installations  of  Mobile Towers especially in cities and towns.

(c) Broadband access is provided in the country through mobile wireless 3G/4G technologies and fixed  wireline connections by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in a phased manner.   As per data provided by TSPs and field units of Department of Telecommunications as on December 2020, it is estimated that out of 5,97,618 inhabited census villages (as per Census 2011) in the country, a total number  of  5,58,537  villages  have  been  connected  with  mobile  broadband  through  3G/4G  mobile technologies. Also, the status of broadband connectivity through 3G/4G mobile technologies in the inhabited census villages (as per Census-2011) in the states of Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand is attached as Annexure-I.

Annexure-I Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  of  para  (c)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  1637  to  be answered  on  08 th   December  2021  raised  by  Hon'ble  Members  of  Parliament  regarding 'National Broadband Mission'

| Sr. No.   | State/UT      |   Total No. of inhabited villages (Census 2011) |   No. of Villages with mobile broadband connectivity through 3G/4G mobile technologies |
|-----------|---------------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Bihar         |                                           39073 |                                                                                  38733 |
| 2         | Jharkhand     |                                           29492 |                                                                                  27397 |
| 3         | Karnataka     |                                           27397 |                                                                                  26705 |
| 4         | Maharashtra   |                                           40959 |                                                                                  37572 |
| 5         | Rajasthan     |                                           43264 |                                                                                  41716 |
| 6         | Uttar Pradesh |                                           97813 |                                                                                  97049 |
| Total     | Total         |                                          277998 |                                                                                 269172 |

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