(a) whether the Government proposes to allocate money from Universal Service
Obligation Fund (USOF) to certain mobile companies to provide phone facility in
remote areas of the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the amount allotted to various phone companies from this fund during the last
three years; and
(d) the State-wise number of villages equipped with phone facility?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD)
(a) & (b) Government is in the process of taking necessary action to provide support
for provision of infrastructure for mobile services including Wireless Access Services
like Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) using Fixed/Mobile Terminal in rural and remote
areas of the country. The infrastructure shall be created in those specified areas
where there is no existing fixed wireless mobile coverage. The tenders have been
invited from existing Basic Service Operators (BSO), Cellular Mobile Telephone service
(CMTS) providers, Unified Access Services Licences (UASL) and Shortlisted Infrastructure
Providers Category – 1 (IP-I) comprising of both private and public sector operators.
A total of 7,871 towers will be set up in rural and remote areas of the country in
500 districts spread over 27 States. The District-wise, Village-wise location of
these towers can be accessed on Department of Telecommunications website (www.dot.gov.in).
(c) The amount disbursed from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to various
phone companies during the last three years is given below:-
(Rs. in Crores) Sl.No. Name of the Service provider 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
1 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited 197.30 1,311.00 1,744.41 2 Reliance Infocomm Limited 0.80 0.90 18.78 3 Tata Teleservices Limited 0.58 1.12 2.35 4 Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited 0.73 0.95 1.31 5 Bharti Infotel Limited 0.13 0.10 0.00 6 Hindustan Futuristic Corporation Limited (HFCL) 0.01 0.00 0.00 7 Shyam Telelink Limited 0.45 0.10 0.00 Total 200.00 1,315.00 1,766.85