Lok Sabha Question No. 48 (STARRED), answered on 2021-12-01
Subject: Communication Services in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Rahul Kaswan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 48 TO BE ANSWERED ON 1 ST  DECEMBER, 2021

## COMMUNICATION SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS

†*48. SHRI RAHUL KASWAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  mobile,  internet  along  with  the  other telecommunication services in the rural areas of the country are not satisfactory;

(b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  number  of  such  areas  in  Rajasthan  where telecommunication services are poor and the Government's response thereto;

(c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  resolve  the  said  situation  in  such  areas  and  has taken steps in this regard and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) whether the Government has plans to install mobile towers at  various  places  in  Churu Parliamentary Constituency as per the demand and need of the mobile facility and if so, the location-wise details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS & ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  48  FOR  1 ST DECEMBER,  2021  REGARDING  'COMMUNICATION  SERVICES  IN  RURAL AREAS'

(a) & (b) Telecom  Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)  has been monitoring the performance of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) against the benchmarks, for various Quality of Service parameters, laid down by TRAI, by way of Quality of Service regulations, issued from time to time, through Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs). The performance is assessed for a License Service Area (LSA) as a whole. Separate information on performance on Quality of Services in District or in a particular area such as rural areas is not available.

As reported by TSPs, telecom services in the country including rural areas are by  and large satisfactory.

The Government through various schemes/projects under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is providing telecommunication services in uncovered villages in the country in a phased manner. Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on the basis of a survey carried out in 2020, has estimated that about  5,72,551 villages out of 5,97,618 inhabited census villages (as per  Census  -  2011)  of  the  country  have  mobile  network  coverage.  Out  of  5,72,551  mobile covered villages, 5,58,537 villages have high speed mobile internet through 3G/4G technology.

In the state of Rajasthan, about 42,323 villages out of 43,264 inhabited census villages have  mobile  network  coverage,  while  941  inhabited  villages  do  not  have  mobile  network coverage.

(c) The Government through various schemes/projects under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) namely (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 seamless 4G mobile coverage of National Highway-4 (earlier NH-223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands etc., is providing mobile and internet services in the rural areas of the country, including Rajasthan.

DoT  has  also  taken  several  policy  initiatives  to  facilitate  infrastructure  growth  for delivery of quality services. These include permitting trading/sharing/liberalisation of spectrum, permitting  passive  &  active  infrastructure  sharing,  etc.  About  16.49  lakh  additional  Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) for 2G/3G/4G-LTE services have been added by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) from March 2014 across the country.

(d) TSPs  install  mobile  towers  and  BTSs  to  improve  coverage  and/or  capacity  of  their networks  based  on  their  techno-commercial  requirements.  Around  4,737  BTSs  in  Churu Constituency in Rajasthan are already providing mobile network connectivity.

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