(a) whether the Government proposes to provide mobile connections to all the applicants in the country, particularly in rural areas;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the steps taken by the Government in this regard; and
(d) if not, the reasons therefor?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD)
(a) to (d) Licence Agreement for provision of Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS) as well as Unified Access Services (UAS), inter-alia, provides that:-
` In Telecom Circles, atleast 10% of the District Headquarters (DHQs) will be covered in the first year and 50% of the DHQs will be covered within three years of effective date of Licence. The licensee shall also be permitted to cover any other town in a District in lieu of the DHQ. Coverage of a DHQ/town would mean that atleaast 90% of the area bounded by the Municipal limits should get the required street as well as in-building coverage. The DHQs shall be taken as on the effective date of licence. The choice of DHQs/towns to be covered and further expansion beyond 50% DHQs/towns shall lie with the Licensee depending on their business decision. There is no requirement of mandatory coverage of rural areas.`
The state owned Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has planned extensive coverage of National Highways and Railway routes due to which many rural and remote areas are benefited with incidental coverage of mobile services. Presently, more than 59,500 villages are benefited by the mobile service provided by BSNL.