(a) whether communication and internet connectivity in North Eastern Region is low as compared to other States;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
(c) whether the Government has plan to strengthen communication and internet connectivity in the region particularly by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited;
(d) if so, the details thereof, State-wise including Tripura and the progress made in this regard; and
(e) the funds allocated for the purpose?
THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) & (b) Teledensity data is maintained licensed service area-wise by TRAI. As per the Telecom Subscription Data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of india(TRAI) Tele-density as on 31.12.2014 in North-East telecom circle is 75.48 & Assam telecom circle is 51.90 and that for All India is 77.58.
(c) to (e) Yes, Madam. The details of schemes for expansion and improvement of telecommunication facilities in these areas that are being implemented/planned with financial support from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) are attached at Annexure-I.
In addition, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is taking following steps with fund allocation of Rs. 204.23 Crores, to strengthen communication and internet services in North- Eastern Region:
(i) Installation of 783 2G Base Transceiver Station (BTS), 581 3G BTS under phase VII Global System for Mobile Commu- nication (GSM) Expansion project in North-Eastern (NE) Region.
(ii) Installation of 22176 Broadband Ports under the expansion project of Broadband Network in NE Region.
(iii) To upgrade its wireline network BSNL is migrating its Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Next Generation Network (NGN). Phase I of this migration has been completed in all the planned 11 exchanges of NE Region.