Question : BROADBAND SERVICES

(a) whether the Government has fixed any annual target for expanding the consumer base of internet and broadband users in the country and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor, State-wise;

(b) whether the broadband services are not satisfactory in the country particularly in the rural and remote areas;

(c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the number of complaints received by BSNL and MTNL in this regard during each of the last three years and the current year till date and the steps taken by the Government to improve the broadband facilities in the country;

(d) whether the Government has received complaints of irregularities by some service providers and other companies in expansion of broadband services; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government thereon along with the funds released for the broadband expansion, State-wise?

THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KAPIL SIBAL)

(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. 320 FOR 12TH FEBRUARY, 2014 REGARDING “BROADBAND SERVICES”

(a) No annual or state-wise targets for expanding the consumer base of broadband and internet users has been fixed, however one of the objectives of National Telecom Policy- 2012 is to provide affordable and reliable broadband-on-demand to achieve 175 million broadband connections by the year 2017 and 600 million broadband connections by the year 2020.

(b) & (c) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has laid down the Quality of Service(QOS) standards for Broadband service through the ‘Quality of service of Broadband Service Regulations, 2006. TRAI monitors the performance of the service providers through the quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs) submitted by the service providers. Since the license is issued on service area wise basis, the quality of service performance is monitored on licensed service area wise basis. No separate information is available with TRAI for rural and remote areas.

As per the Performance Monitoring Reports (PMR) submitted by the service providers for the quarter ending September 2013, it is seen that the service providers are largely complying with the benchmarks for the various quality of service parameters. Non-compliance with the benchmarks is observed mostly in respect of the parameters viz. Service provisioning, fault repair, Billing Performance, Response time to the customer for assistance.

TRAI has also been imposing financial disincentive on service providers for failure to comply with the quality of service benchmarks.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited(MTNL) have been meeting most of the TRAI’s defined QOS parameters for broadband services. A few complaints are received by BSNL and MTNL which are resolved at local level. BSNL is providing various value added services, like, IPTV, games on demand, educational content, broadband-VPN, Video conferencing, etc. to popularize broadband services. BSNL is also providing affordable broadband connection with Universal Service Obligation Fund(USOF) subsidy in rural area. BSNL is also providing Broadband connection to Universities and colleges under the National Mission for Education project of Ministry of HRD.

NOFN project is planned to connect all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2.5 Lakh) in the country through optical fibre utilizing existing fibers of PSUs viz. BSNL, RailTel and Power Grid Corporation of India and laying incremental fiber wherever necessary to bridge the connectivity gap between Gram Panchayats (GPs) and Blocks.

Non-discriminatory access to the network will be provided to all categories of service providers. These access providers/service providers like mobile operators, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), cable TV operators, content providers can launch various services in rural areas. Various applications for e-health, e-education, e-governance etc. will be provided.

The project was approved by the government on 25.10.2011. The project is being executed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) namely Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL).

(d) No complaints of irregularities in expansion of broadband services has been received by Government

(e) does not arise in view of (d) above.