(a) whether the Union Government is aware that consumers are not getting Cellone and pre-paid connections of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. in Uttar Pradesh, particularly in Sidharth Nagar, Gorakapur, Basti, Ajamagarh, Mau, Jaunpur and Gonda districts;
(b) if so, the reasons therefore; and
(c) the time by when these cell-one and pre-paid connections are likely to be made available to the consumers on demand by the Government?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DR.SHAKEEL AHMAD )
(a)&(b):Post paid Cellone connections are available on demand and there is a waiting for pre-paid Connections in Sidharth Nagar, Gorakpur, Basti, Ajamgarh, Maau, Jaunpur and Gonda districts of Uttar Pradesh due to high demand and network capacity constraints.
(c) :Post-paid Cellular connections are already available on demand. BSNL has placed Purchase order for increasing the capacity of the network in Uttar Pradesh including for the districts mentioned above and it is expected that Pre-paid Cellone connections will be made available on demand to the customers during the year 2005.