Lok Sabha Question No. 4424 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: Public WiFi Hotspots
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Kotagiri Sridhar, Maddila  Gurumoorthy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4424 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30 TH  MARCH, 2022

## PUBLIC WiFi HOTSPOTS

## 4424.   SHRI SRIDHAR KOTAGIRI: SHRI MADDILA GURUMOORTHY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the funds allocated under the BharatNet project for setting up of public WiFi hotspots;
- (b) the number of public WiFi hotspots set up in rural areas under the Bharatnet project, Statewise, including Andhra Pradesh;
- (c) whether the Government has any data on usage of such WiFi hotspots by rural public? If so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether the Government is planning to set up such hotspots in more public areas in the rural regions and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) As per  the  Cabinet  approval  dated  19.07.2017,  Rs.  4,066  crore  has  been  approved  for providing Last Mile Connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband technology, at all Gram Panchayats (GPs) of BharatNet Phase-I and Phase-II.

(b) The State/UT-wise details of the Wi-Fi hotspots, installed at GPs in the country including Andhra Pradesh, from BharatNet network, are given in Annexure-I.

(c) During February 2022, the total data consumption, including that of Wi-Fi hotspots, was 4029 Terabyte (TB) through BharatNet network.

(d) The  infrastructure  created  under  BharatNet  project  can  be  utilized  for  provisioning  of broadband/internet  services  through  Wi-Fi  Hotspots,  Fibre  to  the  Home  (FTTH)  connections, leased lines, dark fibre, backhaul to mobile towers, etc.

The work of providing Wi-Fi hotspots in about 1.20 lakh GPs of BharatNet Phase-I,  about 5500 GPs of BharatNet Phase-II ( being connected  on satellite media), and at about 1400 Digital Satellite  Phone  Terminals  (set  up  at  Government  offices/institutions  in  remote  areas)  is implemented with funding from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

For  BharatNet  Phase-II  (being  implemented  on  OFC/Radio),  the  respective  Implementing Agencies are responsible for the utilisation of the created network.

Annexure referred to in Part (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4424 to be answered on 30.03.2022

## State/UT wise number of GPs where Wi-Fi hotspots installed

| S. No.   | State/UT                          | No. of GPs where Wi- Fi hotspots installed   |
|----------|-----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh                    | 1570                                         |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh                 | 306                                          |
| 3        | Bihar                             | 5344                                         |
| 4        | Chandigarh                        | 12                                           |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh                      | 3655                                         |
| 6        | Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman &Diu | 36                                           |
| 7        | Gujarat                           | 3954                                         |
| 8        | Haryana                           | 5955                                         |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh                  | 252                                          |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir                    | 985                                          |
| 11       | Jharkhand                         | 2383                                         |
| 12       | Karnataka                         | 5301                                         |
| 13       | Kerala                            | 977                                          |
| 14       | Ladakh                            | 172                                          |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh                    | 11537                                        |
| 16       | Maharashtra                       | 11014                                        |
| 17       | Manipur                           | 161                                          |
| 18       | Meghalaya                         | 70                                           |
| 19       | Odisha                            | 2511                                         |
| 20       | Puducherry                        | 81                                           |
| 21       | Punjab                            | 7887                                         |
| 22       | Rajasthan                         | 8078                                         |
| 23       | Telangana                         | 1995                                         |
| 24       | Tripura                           | 574                                          |
| 25       | Uttar Pradesh                     | 26855                                        |
| 26       | Uttarakhand                       | 1251                                         |
| 27       | West Bengal                       | 1372                                         |
| Total    | Total                             | 1,04,288                                     |

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