Lok Sabha Question No. 1415 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-04
Subject: Quality Improvement in Communication Services
Ministry: COMMUNICATION
Asked by: Shri Bibhu Prasad Tarai

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1415 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH  DECEMBER, 2024

## QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN COMMUNICATION SERVICES

## 1415.   SHRI BIBHU PRASAD TARAI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATION be pleased to state:

the measures taken during last five years to enhance quality and timely tele-communication services (especially to address the network issues) in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)

Department of Telecommunications has taken many steps in the last 5 years to enhance the tele-communication services in the country and to improve its quality. Some of the salient measures undertaken are as given below -

- (a) Following  projects  have  been  initiated  under  Digital  Bharat  Nidhi  (erstwhile  USOF)  for provision of high-speed internet/data and Mobile Services in remote & rural areas of the country:
- i. Schemes for providing mobile services in the Left-Wing Extremism affected areas, Border areas and other priority areas and Aspirational Districts.
- ii. 4G Saturation scheme for providing mobile coverage in all uncovered villages.
- iii. Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region and Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands.
- iv. BharatNet project for providing broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and villages, including tribal areas. As of Oct-2024; 2,14,283 GPs have been made service ready under BharatNet project in the country. Further, the Government has  approved  the  Amended  BharatNet  Program  (ABP)  covering  all  GPs  in  the country on ring network, up-gradation of existing network of BharatNet Phase-I and Phase-II, and connectivity to remaining non-GP villages (about 3.8 lakh) on demand basis at a cost of Rs. 1.39 lakh Cr.

The details of schemes are available under Annexure-I .

- (b) Quality of Service benchmarks have been revised by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India  (TRAI)  recently  for  various  parameters  of  telecom  services  to  ensure  improvement  in  the quality of telecom services.
- (c) Sufficient Access spectrum has been made available for Telecom Services through Spectrum Auctions held in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
- (d) Notification of Right of Way (RoW) Rules and launch of PM GatiShakti Sanchar portal has resulted in expeditious clearance for installation of telecom infrastructure.
- (e) Restriction regarding installation of Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in border areas has been removed to improve mobile coverage in border villages.

Annexure referred to in of Para (a) of the reply of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1415 to be  answered  on  4th  December,  2024 raised  by  Hon'ble  Member of Parliament  Shri  Bibhu Prasad Tarai, regarding 'Quality Improvement in Communication Services

|   S.No. | Name of Scheme                        | No. of Tower / BTS   | Project Cost (in Cr.)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------|----------------------|-------------------------|
|       1 | Left-Wing Extremism affected areas    | 3,609                | 4,637                   |
|       2 | Border areas and other priority areas | 585                  | 1,546                   |
|       3 | Aspirational Districts                | 3,928                | 4,099                   |
|       4 | 4G Saturation                         | 17,901               | 30,620                  |
|       5 | CTDP North Eastern Region             | 1,216                | 2,227                   |
|       6 | CTDP Islands                          | 125                  | 166                     |

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