Lok Sabha Question No. 3240 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-23
Subject: Telecommunication Towers in Remote areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Dhanush M Kumar, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Manjulata Mandal, Ganesan Selvam, Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pawan Rajenimbalkar, C.N. Annadurai

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3240 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 RD  MARCH, 2022

## TELECOMMUNICATION TOWERS IN REMOTE AREAS

## 3240.   SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH alias PAWAN RAJENIMBALKAR:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) the total number  of villages and remote backward  areas in the country  where telecommunication  towers  have  been  set  up  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  including Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Telecom company-wise;

(b) the  number  of  such  towers  targeted  to  set  up  in  the  rural/backward  areas  in  the  next financial year;

(c) whether the Government has failed to develop telecommunication network in villages/remote areas of the country and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(d) whether the Government is formulating any action plan to improve the telecommunication network in such areas and if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be done; and

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

## ANSWER

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

(a) Telecom company-wise total number of villages in the country where telecommunication towers/ Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) have been set up during each of the last three years is attached as Annexure-1. Information for the states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu is attached as Annexure-2.

(b) The Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) decide their future plan based on their capacity, techno-commercial assessment and other parameters. Government has taken up various schemes to provide mobile services in rural and remote areas of the country by installing towers with the support from USOF. Total 5,321 number of Telecom Towers/ Base Stations have been envisaged under the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) scheme in the coming financial year (202223).

(c) to (e) As on December 2020, it is estimated that out of 5,97,618 inhabited census villages in  the  country  (as  per  Census  2011),  5,72,551  villages  are  having  mobile  coverage.  The Government  through  various  schemes/projects  under  USOF  is  providing  telecommunication services in uncovered villages in the country in a phased manner.

These  schemes/  projects  are  (i)  Left  Wing  Extremism  (Phase-I  &  II)  projects;  (ii) Aspirational Districts scheme; (iii) Commissioning of Submarine Optical Fibre Cable connectivity from Chennai to Andaman & Nicobar Islands; (iv) Scheme for connecting submarine Optical Fibre Cable  from  Kochi  to  Lakshadweep  Islands;  (v)  BharatNet  (Phase-I  &  II)  projects;  (vi) Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region; and (vii) Provision of 4G mobile coverage in uncovered villages and provision of seamless 4G mobile coverage of National Highway-4 (earlier NH-223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands etc., through which Government is providing mobile and internet services in the rural and remote areas of the country.

DoT  has  also  taken  several  policy  initiatives  to  facilitate  infrastructure  growth  for improving telecommunication network. These include notifying Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules,  2016,  permitting  trading/sharing/liberalisation  of  spectrum,  permitting  passive  &  active infrastructure sharing among the TSPs, etc. More than 16.75 lakh additional Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) for 2G/3G/4G-LTE services have been added by TSPs from March 2014 onwards across the country.

## ANNEXURE-1

TELECOM  COMPANY-WISE  TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  VILLAGES  IN  THE  COUNTRY WHERE TELECOMMUNICATION TOWERS/ BTSs HAVE BEEN SET UP DURING EACH OF THE LAST THREE YEARS:

|                               | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the Country   | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the Country   | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the Country   | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the Country   |
|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Name of Telecom Company       | During 2018-19                                                                                     | During 2019-20                                                                                     | During 2020-21                                                                                     | During 2021-22 (till date)                                                                         |
| Bharti Airtel Limited         | 38,414                                                                                             | 33,589                                                                                             | 38,603                                                                                             | 18,995                                                                                             |
| Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited  | 5,770                                                                                              | 3,408                                                                                              | 1,608                                                                                              | 378                                                                                                |
| Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited | 80,984                                                                                             | 36,213                                                                                             | 16,417                                                                                             | 21,131                                                                                             |
| Vodafone Idea Limited         | 18,242                                                                                             | 17,803                                                                                             | 4,904                                                                                              | 2,218                                                                                              |

## ANNEXURE-2

TELECOM  COMPANY-WISE  TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  VILLAGES  IN  THE  STATES  OF MAHARASHTRA AND TAMIL NADU WHERE TELECOMMUNICATION TOWERS/ BTSs HAVE BEEN SET UP DURING EACH OF THE LAST THREE YEARS :

|                               | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the State of Maharashtra   | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the State of Maharashtra   | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the State of Maharashtra   | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the State of Maharashtra   |
|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Name of Telecom Company       | During 2018-19                                                                                                  | During 2019-20                                                                                                  | During 2020-21                                                                                                  | During 2021-22 (till date)                                                                                      |
| Bharti Airtel Limited         | 484                                                                                                             | 941                                                                                                             | 2,750                                                                                                           | 1,194                                                                                                           |
| Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited  | 1,796                                                                                                           | 1,633                                                                                                           | 703                                                                                                             | 124                                                                                                             |
| Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited | 1,424                                                                                                           | 2,124                                                                                                           | 1,783                                                                                                           | 1,766                                                                                                           |
| Vodafone Idea Limited         | 1,524                                                                                                           | 1,750                                                                                                           | 320                                                                                                             | 290                                                                                                             |

|                               | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the State of Tamil Nadu   | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the State of Tamil Nadu   | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the State of Tamil Nadu   | Number of Census inhabited villages where Telecom Towers/BTSs have been installed in the State of Tamil Nadu   |
|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Name of Telecom Company       | During 2018-19                                                                                                 | During 2019-20                                                                                                 | During 2020-21                                                                                                 | During 2021-22 (till date)                                                                                     |
| Bharti Airtel Limited         | 398                                                                                                            | 154                                                                                                            | 461                                                                                                            | 271                                                                                                            |
| Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited  | 5                                                                                                              | 32                                                                                                             | 226                                                                                                            | 7                                                                                                              |
| Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited | 5,114                                                                                                          | 2,411                                                                                                          | 1,126                                                                                                          | 895                                                                                                            |
| Vodafone Idea Limited         | 1,985                                                                                                          | 821                                                                                                            | 666                                                                                                            | 144                                                                                                            |

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