Lok Sabha Question No. 169 (STARRED), answered on 2026-02-11
Subject: Optical Fibre Connectivity and Rural Digital Access
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Shri Dharambir Singh, Dr. Bhola Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 169 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH  FEBRUARY, 2026

## OPTICAL FIBRE CONNECTIVITY AND RURAL DIGITAL ACCESS

## *169.   DR. BHOLA SINGH: SHRI DHARAMBIR SINGH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the increase in Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) length during the last three years, State-wise;
- (b) the measurable improvements observed in broadband speed, network reliability and 4G/5G readiness as a result thereof and the district-wise status of OFC connectivity in rural areas and border touching areas including Bulandshahr district, Bhiwani-Mahendergarh Lok Sabha Constituency;
- (c) the details of the OFC length taken in Palghar district in Maharashtra and the reason behind poor broadband speed, network reliability and 4G/5G in the Palghar district;
- (d) if so, the measurable outcomes observed in terms of network performance indicators such as average download/upload speeds, latency and network uptime in Karnataka and Bengaluru;
- (e) whether expanded OFC connectivity under BharatNet in rural areas and urban fibre rollout by telecom service providers has enabled wider adoption of digital services such as e-governance, online education, telemedicine, and digital payments; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof, including rural-urban coverage achieved and major gaps, if any?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION (SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA)

- (a) to (f) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to (f) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.169 FOR 11 TH  FEBRUARY, 2026 REGARDING 'OPTICAL FIBRE CONNECTIVITY AND RURAL DIGITAL ACCESS.'

(a) During the last three financial years (from 1.4.2022 to 31.3.2025), 8,50,284 route kilometres of optical fibre cable (OFC) were laid. State-wise details are at Annexure-I .

(b) & (d) Details of measurable improvements across the country are as follows:

- (i) Mobile broadband speed: Average mobile broadband download speed has increased from 13.67 Mbps in March 2022 to 132.00 Mbps in December 2025 as per Ookla's global speedtest index.
- (ii) Network reliability: As per the report of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for December 2025, all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) met all Quality of Service (QoS) benchmarks for network-related parameters for the 4G/5G network.
- (iii) 4G/5G  readiness: The  number  of  the  4G/5G  Base  Transceiver  Stations  (BTSs) increased by 51.33% from 16.91 lakh as on 31.3.2022 to 25.59 lakh as on 31.12.2025. State-wise details are at Annexure-II .
- (iv) Latency: As per TRAI report, latency in September 2025 is less than 75 milliseconds and the cumulative downtime (cells not available for service) is within the specified limits of less than 2%.

The above information is for the whole country, including Karnataka and Bengaluru.

District-wise details of OFC connected and service-ready Gram Panchayats under BharatNet, in  rural  areas  and  border-touching  areas,  including  Bulandshahr  district  and  the  BhiwaniMahendergarh Lok Sabha constituency,  are available  at  the  Department  of  Telecommunications website (https://www.dot.gov.in/static/uploads/2026/02/1f908efb879806628e9f32bf4b966c30.pdf).

(c) In Palghar district in Maharashtra, 4,830 route kilometres of OFC have been laid. Broadband speed and network reliability may be temporarily impacted due to OFC cuts during road widening work, pipeline work and public utility works carried out by local municipal authorities.

(e) & (f) Yes, sir. The expansion of OFC connectivity in rural areas has significantly facilitated adoption  of  digital  services  across  the  country.  The  availability  of  high-speed  broadband  has strengthened service delivery and accessibility, allowing citizens in rural and remote areas to access Government services through Common Service Centres (CSCs), online portals and digital platforms. The status of some of the key e-governance initiatives is as follows:

- (i) Aadhaar  is  the  world's  largest  digital  identity  system  that  provides  biometric  and demographic data based unique digital identity. Over 143 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated so far.
- (ii) DigiLocker  has  enabled  access  on  anytime,  anywhere  basis  to  authenticate  digital documents from the original issuer for the common citizen. More than 65.01 crore users are registered with DigiLocker to avail of its services.

- (iii) The  Unified  Mobile  Application  for  New-age  Governance  (UMANG)  mobile application for all government services is operational and offers over 2,390 services for individuals. It has witnessed cumulative 726.43 crore transactions.
- (iv) CSCs are offering government and business services in the assisted digital mode. Over 800 services are being delivered through CSCs. As of December 2025, 5.87 lakh CSCs were functional across the country, in both rural and urban areas, of which 4.57 lakh were functional at the Gram Panchayat level in rural areas.
- (v) Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), which was initiated to  reach  functional  digital  literacy  in  6  crore  rural  households  (one  person  per household) nationwide, has reached 6.39 crore individuals.
- (vi) During  the  financial  year  2024-25,  total  digital  payments  transactions  were  23,834 crore. The number of such transactions in the current financial year, till 4.2.2026, is 20,856 crore.

Due  to  expanded  OFC  connectivity  under  BharatNet  Project,  a  total  of  2,14,904  Gram Panchayats have been made service-ready, as of 31.12.2025. Further, out of 6,44,131 villages in the country (village data as per the office of the Registrar General of India), around 6,34,955 villages are covered with mobile connectivity, including 6,31,834 villages having 4G mobile connectivity. Thus, 98.09% villages have access to internet.

As of 30.9.2025, out of a total of 101.78 crore internet subscribers in India, 42.77 crore are rural subscribers and 59.01 crore are urban subscribers.

## Annexure referred to in part (a) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 169 for answer on 11.2.2026

|   S. no. | State / Union territory                  | OFC laid during the last three financial years (from 1.4.2022 to 31.3.2025), in route kilometres   | Total OFC laid (as of 31.12.2025), in route kilometres   |
|----------|------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands              | 390                                                                                                | 1,544                                                    |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh                           | 81,307                                                                                             | 2,51,753                                                 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 2,627                                                                                              | 9,913                                                    |
|        4 | Assam                                    | 27,523                                                                                             | 93,234                                                   |
|        5 | Bihar                                    | 17,210                                                                                             | 1,29,992                                                 |
|        6 | Chandigarh                               | 2,073                                                                                              | 24,763                                                   |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh                             | 18,399                                                                                             | 1,18,793                                                 |
|        8 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 217                                                                                                | 1,328                                                    |
|        9 | Delhi                                    | 10,830                                                                                             | 77,409                                                   |
|       10 | Goa                                      | 648                                                                                                | 5,065                                                    |
|       11 | Gujarat                                  | 24,235                                                                                             | 2,90,429                                                 |
|       12 | Haryana                                  | 8,253                                                                                              | 83,932                                                   |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh                         | 5,802                                                                                              | 35,787                                                   |
|       14 | Jammu and Kashmir                        | 10,809                                                                                             | 44,479                                                   |
|       15 | Jharkhand                                | 16,720                                                                                             | 82,034                                                   |
|       16 | Karnataka                                | 27,629                                                                                             | 2,26,763                                                 |
|       17 | Kerala                                   | 88,591                                                                                             | 2,59,252                                                 |
|       18 | Ladakh                                   | 1,209                                                                                              | 5,663                                                    |
|       19 | Lakshadweep                              | 20                                                                                                 | 59                                                       |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh                           | 30,374                                                                                             | 2,63,453                                                 |
|       21 | Maharashtra                              | 70,178                                                                                             | 4,06,637                                                 |
|       22 | Manipur                                  | 2,500                                                                                              | 10,499                                                   |
|       23 | Meghalaya                                | 3,580                                                                                              | 11,952                                                   |
|       24 | Mizoram                                  | 1,718                                                                                              | 8,332                                                    |
|       25 | Nagaland                                 | 2,277                                                                                              | 10,057                                                   |
|       26 | Odisha                                   | 26,406                                                                                             | 1,56,298                                                 |
|       27 | Puducherry                               | 137                                                                                                | 138                                                      |
|       28 | Punjab                                   | 60,654                                                                                             | 1,97,105                                                 |
|       29 | Rajasthan                                | 45,058                                                                                             | 2,39,458                                                 |
|       30 | Sikkim                                   | 474                                                                                                | 4,827                                                    |
|       31 | Tamil Nadu                               | 1,02,865                                                                                           | 3,08,907                                                 |
|       32 | Telangana                                | 65,691                                                                                             | 2,37,946                                                 |
|       33 | Tripura                                  | 1,460                                                                                              | 11,294                                                   |
|       34 | Uttar Pradesh                            | 55,672                                                                                             | 4,06,697                                                 |
|       35 | Uttarakhand                              | 9,428                                                                                              | 50,178                                                   |
|       36 | West Bengal Total                        | 27,320 8,50,284                                                                                    | 1,87,364 42,53,334                                       |

## Annexure referred to in parts (b) and (d) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 169 for answer on 11.2.2026

| S. no.      | State/ Union territory                   | 4G/5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), as on 31.3.2022   | 4G/5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), as on 31.12.2025   |
|-------------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1           | Andaman& Nicobar                         | 399                                                       | 987                                                        |
| 2           | Andhra Pradesh                           | 58,722                                                    | 91,588                                                     |
| 3           | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 2,595                                                     | 5,060                                                      |
| 4           | Assam                                    | 38,622                                                    | 56,327                                                     |
| 5           | Bihar                                    | 78,755                                                    | 1,26,048                                                   |
| 6           | Chandigarh                               | 2,512                                                     | 3,624                                                      |
| 7           | Chhattisgarh                             | 32,489                                                    | 49,481                                                     |
| 8           | Delhi                                    | 49,116                                                    | 68,077                                                     |
| 9           | Goa                                      | 3,903                                                     | 5,929                                                      |
| 10          | Gujarat                                  | 1,04,209                                                  | 1,57,413                                                   |
| 11          | Haryana                                  | 54,071                                                    | 83,571                                                     |
| 12          | Himachal Pradesh                         | 17,902                                                    | 27,087                                                     |
| 13          | Jammu &Kashmir                           | 25,113                                                    | 37,180                                                     |
| 14          | Jharkhand                                | 36,532                                                    | 54,584                                                     |
| 15          | Karnataka                                | 1,09,796                                                  | 1,56,930                                                   |
| 16          | Kerala                                   | 60,955                                                    | 98,413                                                     |
| 17          | Ladakh                                   | 732                                                       | 1,625                                                      |
| 18          | Lakshadweep                              | 14                                                        | 64                                                         |
| 19          | Madhya Pradesh                           | 86,955                                                    | 1,30,782                                                   |
| 20          | Maharashtra                              | 1,78,661                                                  | 2,69,542                                                   |
| 21          | Manipur                                  | 5,104                                                     | 7,281                                                      |
| 22          | Meghalaya                                | 5,020                                                     | 6,903                                                      |
| 23          | Mizoram                                  | 2,435                                                     | 3,436                                                      |
| 24          | Nagaland                                 | 3,596                                                     | 5,205                                                      |
| 25          | Odisha                                   | 52,082                                                    | 83,767                                                     |
| 26          | Puducherry                               | 1,704                                                     | 2,938                                                      |
| 27          | Punjab                                   | 55,366                                                    | 83,308                                                     |
| 28          | Rajasthan                                | 91,620                                                    | 1,42,644                                                   |
| 29          | Sikkim                                   | 1,712                                                     | 2,187                                                      |
| 30          | Tamil Nadu                               | 1,11,698                                                  | 1,72,584                                                   |
| 31          | Telangana                                | 64,864                                                    | 94,612                                                     |
| 32          | Tripura                                  | 5,577                                                     | 8,052                                                      |
| 33          | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 1,219                                                     | 1,906                                                      |
| 34          | Uttar Pradesh                            | 2,13,702                                                  | 3,21,123                                                   |
| 35          | Uttarakhand                              | 21,981                                                    | 32,500                                                     |
| 36          | West Bengal                              | 1,11,571                                                  | 1,66,946                                                   |
| Grand Total | Grand Total                              | 16,91,304                                                 | 25,59,704                                                  |

*****