Lok Sabha Question No. 1139 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-26
Subject: Telecommunication Services
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Kirit Premjibhai Solanki

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1139 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 TH  JULY, 2023

## TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES

## 1139.   DR. (PROF.) KIRIT PREMJIBHAI SOLANKI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the steps being taken to improve the quality and coverage of telecommunication services especially in rural and remote areas of the Country;
- (b) the details about the progress of the BharatNet project including the funds allocated and utilised till date and its impact on digital connectivity;
- (c) the details regarding the issue of call drops along with the steps to improve the overall quality of mobile networks;
- (d) whether there is any specific scheme to bridge the digital divide and ensure affordable access to telecommunication services for SCs/STs/tribals, particularly in remote and rural areas, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government has planned to launch any scheme to promote digital literacy and skill development programmes tailored specifically  for  SCs/STs/tribals,  enabling  them  to  leverage  digital technologies for empowerment and socio-economic progress and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) provide the telecommunication services in rural and remote areas of the Country in a phased manner. Government is implementing various schemes under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for expansion of telecom service through installation of Mobile Towers in the rural and remote areas of the country. The improved coverage by installation of new Mobile Towers leads to improvement in quality of mobile services. The major USOF schemes are at Annexure-I .
- (b) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and villages. As on 30.03.2023, 1,90,105 GPs have been made Service Ready on OFC media by laying 6, 43,450 Km Optical Fibre Cable (OFC). Further, 4,806 GPs have been made Service Ready on Satellite media. In total, 1,94,911 GPs have been made Service Ready under the BharatNet project in the country. As on 30-06-2023, a sum of ₹37,171.77 Crore has been allocated under BharatNet  project  from  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  (USOF).  Bharatnet  has  been  utilised  for providing 5,67,306 fiber to the Home (FTTH) broadband connections as on 03.07.2023.
- (c) Government had launched an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) in December 2016 for call drop wherein around 6.87 crore subscribers have been individually contacted out of which 79.83 lakh subscribers  have  participated  in  the  survey  upto  April  2023.  The  feedback  is  shared  with  respective Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for taking corrective action in a time bound manner. As a result, about 1.80 lakh call drop cases have been resolved and around 8,357 Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) have been installed by the TSPs to resolve the call drops issues received through IVRS.

Further  TRAI is monitoring the performance of service providers against the benchmark for various Quality of Service parameters laid down by TRAI by way of Quality of Service regulations issued from time to time.

(d) & (e) USOF is implementing various projects mentioned at Annexure-I for providing access to telecommunications  services  in  rural  and  remote  areas  including  SC/ST.  Through  Common  Service Centres,  Digital  Literacy  and  Skill  Development  for  Digital  Technology  is  undertaken  for  rural population including SC/ST.

Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1139 to be answered on  26 th   July,  2023  raised  by  Hon'ble  Member  of  Parliament  regarding  'Telecommunication Services'

Details of schemes/projects to  improve the communication network/system in rural and remote areas across the country:

- (a) USOF 4G Saturation Scheme to cover 24,680 uncovered villages with 4G and 6,279 villages having 2G/3G connectivity are to be upgraded to 4G.  The estimated project cost is Rs. 26,316 Cr.
- (b) Provision of 4G Mobile Services in North Eastern Region of the country under Comprehensive Telecom Development Program for NER. The estimated cost for schemes is Rs. 3637 Cr.
- (c) Hiring of 10 Gbps International Bandwidth through BSNL for Internet Connectivity to Agartala from BSCCL, Bangladesh via Cox Bazar. Approval has been issued for hiring of additional 10 Gbps International Bandwidth also.
- (d) Provision  of  4G  mobile  connectivity  in  354  uncovered  villages  of  J&K,  Ladakh,  Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat,  Uttarakhand, Border area & other priority areas. The estimated project cost is Rs. 337 Cr.
- (e) Provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 7,287 Aspirational District villages (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha). The estimated cost for projects is Rs. 6466 Cr.
- (f) Under LWE Phase-I scheme, 2,343 mobile towers have been installed in LWE areas. Provision for upgradation of LWE Phase-I from 2G to 4G has also been made. The estimated project cost is Rs. 3567 Cr.
- (g) Under  LWE  Phase-II  scheme,  2,542  mobile  towers  at  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  (MHA) identified locations are approved across the LWE States for provision of 4G mobile services. The estimated project cost is Rs. 2211 Cr.
- (h) Scheme for providing 4G mobile connectivity in 502 uncovered villages of Aspirational Districts in  four  States,  namely,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Madhya  Pradesh  and  Rajasthan.  The  estimated project cost is Rs. 686 Cr.
- (i) Provision of 4G Mobile Coverage in 85 uncovered Villages and seamless 4G Mobile coverage of NH223 in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The estimated project cost is Rs. 130 Cr.
- (j) Laying of submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The estimated project cost is Rs. 1224 Cr.
- (k) Submarine OFC connectivity between Kochi and Lakshadweep Islands. The estimated project cost is Rs. 1072 Cr.
- (l) BharatNet  project  to  create  network  to  connect  all  the  Gram  Panchayats  and  villages  with broadband infrastructure. The total funding of the BharatNet (Phase-I and Phase-II), approved by the Cabinet, is Rs 42,068 crores (exclusive of GST, Octroi and local taxes).

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