Lok Sabha Question No. 3442 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-23
Subject: Mobile Towers in West Bengal
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Khan Saumitra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3442 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 RD  MARCH, 2022

## MOBILE TOWERS IN WEST BENGAL

## 3442.   SHRI SAUMITRA KHAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether mobile towers are not available in the  remote villages of West Bengal so  far, including Bankura district and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  effort  made/being  made  by  the  Government  for  having  mobile  towers  installed  in remote areas of the State;
- (c) the time frame by which the vision of revolution in communication is likely to be fulfilled in remote villages and the efforts made by the Government in this regard so far; and
- (d) whether any policy framework has been prepared by the Government in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Sir, as on  December 2020, it is estimated that out of 37,478 inhabited census villages in the State of West Bengal (as per Census 2011), 37,470 villages had been provided with the mobile network coverage. All the 3585 villages of Bankura District have been provided with the mobile network coverage.
- (b) to (d) Government of India has made efforts to cover the remaining villages of the country in a phased manner. The Government through various schemes/projects under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is providing mobile and internet services in the rural and remote areas of the country. Under the project in Left Wing Extremism (Phase-I) affected areas, 96 Towers had been commissioned in Bankura, Purulia and West Medinipur districts in the state of West Bengal. Under the Left Wing Extremism (Phase-II) project, 33 towers have been targeted to be installed in Bankura,  Birbhum,  Jhargram,  Purulia  and  West  Medinipur  districts  in  the  State.  The  '354 Uncovered Villages' scheme includes one location in Murshidabad district of the State.

The various schemes/ projects under USOF are (i) Left Wing Extremism affected areas (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 Telecom Service Providers (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.

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