Lok Sabha Question No. 676 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-01
Subject: BharatNet in UP
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Sangamlal Kadedin Gupta, Mahendra Singh Solanky, Sandhya Ray, P.P. Chaudhary, Manoj Kumar Tiwari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 676 TO BE ANSWERED ON 1 ST  DECEMBER, 2021

## BHARATNET IN UP

676. SHRI SANGAM LAL GUPTA:

SHRI MAHENDRA SINGH SOLANKY:

SHRIMATI SANDHYA RAY:

SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY:

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of current penetration percentage of Mobile Internet in Rural and Urban areas of the State of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan;
- (b) the  details  of  current  status  of  the  BharatNet  Scheme  and  the  number  of  beneficiaries covered under the above said scheme;
- (c) the timeline by which Uttar Pradesh as expected to achieve 100% internet coverage;
- (d) the  status  of  the  PM  WANI  Scheme  and  the  expected  number  of  beneficiaries  in  the State?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) As  per  the  Indian  Telecom  Service  Performance  Indicators  published  by  Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 21.10.2021, the Service Area wise number of Internet Subscribers per 100 population (including mobile internet subscribers) in rural and urban areas of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan at the end of June 2021 are as below:

| Service Area         | No. of Internet subscribers per 100 population   | No. of Internet subscribers per 100 population   | No. of Internet subscribers per 100 population   |
|----------------------|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
|                      | Rural                                            | Urban                                            | Total                                            |
| Uttar Pradesh (East) | 28.74                                            | 89.40                                            | 43.50                                            |
| Uttar Pradesh (West) |                                                  |                                                  |                                                  |
| Madhya Pradesh       | 28.73                                            | 100.56                                           | 49.01                                            |
| Rajasthan            | 38.07                                            | 109.64                                           | 56.95                                            |

Note: Data/Information  for  Uttar  Pradesh  includes  Uttarakhand  and  Madhya  Pradesh  includes Chhattisgarh.

(b) & (c) BharatNet  project  is  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  provide  broadband connectivity  to  all  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  in  the  country.  On  30.06.2021,  the  scope  of BharatNet was extended upto all inhabited villages beyond GPs in the country including Uttar Pradesh. The targeted date for completion of the project is August, 2023. As on 01.11.2021, a total number of 1,66,088 GPs are  Service Ready in the country. The infrastructure created under BharatNet  project  is  a  national  asset,  accessible  on  a  non-discriminatory  basis  to  the  Service Providers, and the same can be utilized to provide benefits of telecom services to the citizens.

(d) Under the PM-WANI framework, Wi-Fi Access Points are set up by small entrepreneurs depending  on  the  market  demand  with  an  objective  to  earn  return  on  their  investment.  As on 24.11.2021, about 4,323 Access Points have been set up in Uttar Pradesh.

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