Lok Sabha Question No. 2785 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-20
Subject: Telephone Connections
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Ramesh Chander Kaushik, Y. S. Avinash Reddy, Ravindra Kushawaha, Satyadev Pachauri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2785 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS

## †2785. SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

SHRI Y.S. AVINASH REDDY:

SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA:

SHRI SATYADEV PACHAURI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  district-wise  details  of  data  regarding  increase  in  the  total  number  of  telephone connections in the country including Sonipat Parliamentary Constituency of Haryana during the last three years;
- (b) the details of the increase in accessibility of Internet and Broadband during the said period; and
- (c) the details of any increase in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the said sector?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Telephone  connectivity  in  Haryana  licensed  service  area  in  last  10  years  has  improved significantly:

|   S.No. | Parameter                                             | As on 31.03.2014   | As on 31.03.2023   |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|
|       1 | Base Transceiver Station (BTS)                        | 14,709             | 56,703             |
|       2 | Optical Fiber Cable Laid (OFC) (km) (State)           | 29,315             | 78,303             |
|       3 | Bharatnet Service ready Gram Panchayats (GPs) (State) | NIL                | 6,082              |
|       4 | Telephone connections                                 | 2.18 crores        | 2.71 crores        |
|       5 | Internet subscribers                                  | 54.0 lakhs         | 190 lakhs          |
|       6 | Broadband subscribers                                 | 10.4 lakhs         | 182 lakhs          |

(b) to (c) The  number  of  internet  and  broadband  subscriptions  in  the  country  has  also significantly improved as given below:

|   S.No. | Parameter             | 31.03.2014   | As on 31.03.2023   |
|---------|-----------------------|--------------|--------------------|
|       1 | Internet subscribers  | 25.16 crores | 88.12 crores       |
|       2 | Broadband subscribers | 6.09 crores  | 84.66 crores       |

Government has taken multiple steps to accelerate the growth in the telecom sector which includes:

- (I) Various structural and procedural reforms implemented by the government in last few years to promote healthy competition, infuse liquidity, encourage investment, reduce regulatory burden on Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and protect interests of consumers. These are as follows:

- (i) Rationalization of definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue.
- (ii) Spectrum  Reforms  like  allowing  sharing,  trading  of  spectrum  and  rationalization  of Spectrum Usage Charge (SUC).
- (iii)   Incentivising Spectrum Sharing.
- (iv) Ensuring adequate spectrum availability through open and transparent auction.
- (v) Permission for 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in telecom sector under automatic route subject to safeguards.
- (vi) Launch of PM Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal for faster Right of Way (RoW) approvals.
- (vii)   Issuance of Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules 2016 and amendment rules from time to time for faster and easier rollout of telecom infrastructure.
- (viii) Procedure for Standing Advisory Committee for Radio Frequency Allocation (SACFA) clearance for telecom towers eased significantly.
- (II) In addition to the above:
-  BharatNet project is being implemented, using Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country. As on 13.11.2023, a total of 2,07,346 Gram Panchayats have been made service ready under BharatNet project in the country. Further, on 04.08.2023, the Union Cabinet has approved the Amended BharatNet Program for extending the scope of BharatNet beyond Gram Panchayats (GPs) to all inhabited villages.
-  Various  projects  including  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  (CTDP)  for  the North-Eastern Region, Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for Islands and Mobile connectivity projects are implemented under USOF for connectivity of Rural and Remote areas  of  the  country  including  Aspirational  Districts,  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  area, Border Areas and other unconnected/ underserved areas.
-  Implementation of the project for saturation of  4G mobile services in uncovered villages across  the  country  at  a  total  cost  of  Rs.  26,316  Cr.  for  providing  4G  mobile  services  in uncovered villages in remote and difficult areas of the country.
-  Government of India has launched a Scheme for the year 2022-23 named as 'Scheme for Special Assistance to states for Capital Investment 2022-23'. The support has been made available to states for capital projects on Optical fibre Cable and approval has been given for projects amounting Rs 2716 crores in respect of 24 states.
-  Rs  19,000  Crore  has  been  disbursed  during  last  three  years  (2020-21  to  2022-23)  under various USOF Projects to improve Telecom Services/ Internet Services in Rural/ Remote/ Uncovered areas of the country.

As a result, India has seen the fastest rollout of 5G services in the world with 3.99 lakhs Base Transceivers Stations (BTSs) deployed across 738 districts. Median speed for mobile broadband has also improved from 1.30 Megabits per second (Mbps) in March 2014 to 75.80 Mbps in October, 2023.

Telecom Sector has been one of the largest recipients of Foreign Direct Investment. Telecom Sector has received FDI of 24.8 Billion US dollars in the period 2014-2023 as against 12.8 Billion US dollars in the period 2004-14.

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