Lok Sabha Question No. 155 (STARRED), answered on 2015-12-09
Subject: Expansion of Telecom Services
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNPURIA, RAGHAV LAKHANPAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.155

TO BE ANSWERED ON 9 th  December, 2015

## EXPANSION OF TELECOM SERVICES

## †*155. SHRI SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNAPURIA: SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL:

Will  the  Minister  of  COMMUNICATIONS  AND  INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  target  for  expansion  and  improvement  of  telecommunication services has been achieved during the last three years and the current year;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the action taken to address underachievement of targets, region-wise and State-wise;
- (c) whether the expansion of telecom services is slow and telecom communication/mobile network in rural and remote areas is very poor as compared to urban areas;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the  funds  allocated  and  utilised  for  expansion  of  telecom  services,  circle  and State-wise along with the action taken by the  Government  for expansion  and improvement of telecommunication services?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to  (e) A Statement  is laid on the table of the House.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.155 FOR 9 th December, 2015 REGARDING 'EXPANSION OF TELECOM SERVICES'.

(a) & (b) Although  no  year  to  year  target  has  been  fixed  for  the  expansion  of telecom services, the National Telecom Policy has set the objectives of increasing rural tele-density to 70 percent by 2017 and 100 percent by the year 2020 and providing 175 million broadband connection by 2017 and 600 million by 2020.  The current level  of rural  tele-density  is  48.79  and  broadband  subscription  is  120.88  million  (as  on 30.09.2015).The State-wise tele-density in rural and urban areas in the country during the  last  three  years  and  current  year  as  on  30.09.2015  is  at Annexure-I  &  II respectively.

(c) & (d) The growth in telecom services during last three years is as below:

| As on                 |   Rural Tele- density |   Urban Tele- density |   Broadband subscription (in millions) |
|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|----------------------------------------|
| 31 st March, 2013     |                 41.05 |                146.64 |                                  15.05 |
| 31 st March, 2014     |                 44.01 |                145.46 |                                  60.87 |
| 31 st March, 2015     |                 48.04 |                149.04 |                                  99.2  |
| 30 th September, 2015 |                 48.79 |                152.36 |                                 120.88 |

The increase  in  the  rural  tele-density  has  gathered  momentum,  but  it  still  lags behind  the  urban  tele-density.  5,41,939  villages  out  of  total  5,97,608  villages  in  the country are already covered with mobile services. The demand of telecom services is price sensitive and is therefore dependent on the purchasing ability of the consumers along with the coverage of geographical area by mobile services.

- (e) State-wise  details  of  funds  allocated  and  utilized  for  expansion  of  telecom services  under  various  schemes  implemented  by  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund (USOF) are enclosed as Annexure-III. Action taken by the Government for expansion and improvement of telecommunication services in rural and remote areas is as below:
- (i) On  10.09.2014,  the  Government  approved  a  proposal  to  implement  a Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  the  North-Eastern  Region (NER).  The Project envisages providing mobile coverage to 8621 identified uncovered villages by installation of about 6673 mobile towers, installation of 321  mobile  tower  sites  along  National  Highways  and  strengthening  of transmission network in the NER.  The estimated cost of implementation is Rs.  5336.18  crore.    The  Project  would  be  funded  from  Universal  Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

Contd……..3/-

- (ii) 2199 mobile towers are being set up in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States with a total estimated cost of Rs.3567.58 crore. 1134 mobile towers are radiating as on 30.11.2015.
- (iii) 7,317  Mobile  towers  have  been  installed  with  the  financial  support  from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) under the Shared Mobile Infrastructure  Scheme  in  villages  or  cluster  of  villages  having  population  of 2000 or more and not having mobile coverage.  The infrastructure so created is capable of being shared by three service providers for provision of mobile services.  The scheme was implemented during the period from June, 2007 to November, 2013.
- (iv) It is estimated that there are about 55,669 villages in the country that do not have mobile coverage. Mobile coverage to these uncovered villages will be provided  in  a  phased  manner  depending  on  the  availability  of  financial resources.
- (v) BharatNet / National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is planned to connect all the  2,50,000  Gram  Panchayats  in  the  country  through  optical  fibre  utilizing existing  fibers  of  Public  Sector  Undertakings  (PSUs)  viz.  Bharat  Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), RailTel and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) (and of any desirous private operator) and laying incremental fibre wherever necessary for providing broadband connectivity to all  Gram Panchayats. As on 30.11.2015, 1,03,643 km of duct and 74,994 km of optical fibre cable covering 32,049 Gram Panchayats have been laid.

Contd……..4/-

Annexure-I

## Service Area-wise growth in rural teledensity (in %) for the last three years and current year (as on 30.09.2015)

| Sr. No.   | Name of the service area   |   31.03.2013 |   31.03.2014 |   31.03.2015 |   30.09.2015 |
|-----------|----------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh& Telangana  |        41.83 |        45.53 |        49.04 |        49.55 |
| 2         | Assam                      |        31.13 |        34.36 |        39.18 |        41.25 |
| 3         | Bihar                      |        27.53 |        29.41 |        33.16 |        35.03 |
| 4         | Gujarat                    |        53.12 |        57.44 |        61.85 |        62.14 |
| 5         | Haryana                    |        56.78 |        59.77 |        59.62 |        57.39 |
| 6         | Himachal Pradesh           |        74.5  |        77.07 |        84.87 |        90.02 |
| 7         | Jammu &Kashmir             |        36.72 |        42.61 |        55.85 |        58.3  |
| 8         | Karnataka                  |        43    |        46.24 |        49.05 |        52.14 |
| 9         | Kerala                     |        61.93 |        64.34 |        67.09 |        60.97 |
| 10        | Madhya Pradesh             |        30.91 |        33.67 |        36.81 |        37.53 |
| 11        | Maharashtra& Goa           |        52.43 |        55.82 |        60.24 |        60.74 |
| 12        | North East                 |        40.57 |        42.68 |        51.09 |        51.75 |
| 13        | Odisha                     |        38.72 |        39.87 |        44.46 |        46.32 |
| 14        | Punjab                     |        67.16 |        71.96 |        71.96 |        70.42 |
| 15        | Rajasthan                  |        44.63 |        48.58 |        53.55 |        55.05 |
| 16        | Tamil Nadu                 |        66.33 |        74.02 |        82.75 |        80.92 |
| 17        | Uttar Pradesh              |        33.34 |        35.55 |        38.88 |        39.26 |
| 19        | West Bengal                |        40.58 |        41.71 |        47.41 |        49.62 |
|           | Total                      |        41.05 |        44.01 |        48.04 |        48.79 |

ANNEXURE-II

## Service Area-wise growth in urban teledensity (in %) for the last three years and current year (as on 30.09.2015)

| Sr. No.   | Name of the service area   |   31.03.2013 |   31.03.2014 |   31.03.2015 |   30.09.2015 |
|-----------|----------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh& Telangana  |       169    |       167.6  |       174.94 |       177.52 |
| 2         | Assam                      |       130.91 |       126.27 |       132.26 |       135.81 |
| 3         | Bihar                      |       160.29 |       150.96 |       164.26 |       173.16 |
| 4         | Gujarat                    |       136.39 |       137.63 |       143.01 |       141.67 |
| 5         | Haryana                    |       113.5  |       121.4  |       124.23 |       127.97 |
| 6         | Himachal Pradesh           |       347.6  |       326.01 |       340.71 |       359.79 |
| 7         | Jammu &Kashmir             |       116.92 |       130.7  |       132.04 |       136.77 |
| 8         | Karnataka                  |       170.38 |       167.19 |       174.89 |       177.49 |
| 9         | Kerala                     |       196.12 |       189.66 |       178.73 |       211.96 |
| 10        | Madhya Pradesh             |       115.09 |       116.34 |       122.85 |       126.68 |
| 11        | Maharashtra& Goa           |       113.59 |       116.26 |       117.32 |       121.18 |
| 12        | North East                 |       151.51 |       153.01 |       154.91 |       157.77 |
| 13        | Odisha                     |       164    |       161.16 |       172.11 |       177.88 |
| 14        | Punjab                     |       151.97 |       154.34 |       145.39 |       148.88 |
| 15        | Rajasthan                  |       153.82 |       160.01 |       153.93 |       156.26 |
| 16        | Tamil Nadu                 |       139.93 |       138.16 |       141.81 |       139.61 |
| 18        | Uttar Pradesh              |       137.69 |       131.52 |       133.87 |       136.59 |
| 19        | West Bengal                |       135.72 |       135.28 |       139.77 |       150.34 |
|           | Total                      |       146.64 |       145.46 |       149.04 |       152.36 |