Question : Telecommunication Towers in Remote areas

(a) the total number of villages and remote backward areas in the country where telecommunication towers have been set up during each of the last three years including Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Telecom company-wise;

(b) the number of such towers targeted to set up in the rural/backward areas in the next financial year;

(c) whether the Government has failed to develop telecommunication network in villages/remote areas of the country and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(d) whether the Government is formulating any action plan to improve the telecommunication network in such areas and if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be done; and

(e) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to improve telecommunication network in villages and remote areas of the country?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS
(SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) Telecom company-wise total number of villages in the country where telecommunication towers/ Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) have been set up during each of the last three years is attached as Annexure-1. Information for the states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu is attached as Annexure-2.

(b) The Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) decide their future plan based on their capacity, techno-commercial assessment and other parameters. Government has taken up various schemes to provide mobile services in rural and remote areas of the country by installing towers with the support from USOF. Total 5,321 number of Telecom Towers/ Base Stations have been envisaged under the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) scheme in the coming financial year (2022-23).

(c) to (e) As on December 2020, it is estimated that out of 5,97,618 inhabited census villages in the country (as per Census 2011), 5,72,551 villages are having mobile coverage. The Government through various schemes/projects under USOF is providing telecommunication services in uncovered villages in the country in a phased manner.
These schemes/ projects are (i) Left Wing Extremism (Phase-I & II) projects; (ii) Aspirational Districts scheme; (iii) Commissioning of Submarine Optical Fibre Cable connectivity from Chennai to Andaman & Nicobar Islands; (iv) Scheme for connecting submarine Optical Fibre Cable from Kochi to Lakshadweep Islands; (v) BharatNet (Phase–I & II) projects; (vi) Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region; and (vii) Provision of 4G mobile coverage in uncovered villages and provision of seamless 4G mobile coverage of National Highway-4 (earlier NH-223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands etc., through which Government is providing mobile and internet services in the rural and remote areas of the country.
DoT has also taken several policy initiatives to facilitate infrastructure growth for improving telecommunication network. These include notifying Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016, permitting trading/sharing/liberalisation of spectrum, permitting passive & active infrastructure sharing among the TSPs, etc. More than 16.75 lakh additional Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) for 2G/3G/4G-LTE services have been added by TSPs from March 2014 onwards across the country.