(a) whether mobile-telephone service has not been launched in rural areas;
(b) if so, the reasons therefor;
(c) whether some private operators create legal hurdles in the matter of starting of Government mobile service;
(d) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto; and
(e) the manner in which the Government propose to resolve this problem?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRIMATI SUMITRA MAHAJAN)
(a) &(b) Sir, as per the terms and conditions of the Licence for Cellular Mobile telephone Service (CMTS), an operator is required to cover 90%of the Metro city Service Areas within one year and in other telecom circles 10% of district Headquarters within one year and 50% of District Headquarters within three years. The Licensee is also permitted to cover any other town in a district in lieu of the District Headquarters. The choice of District Headquarters/town to be covered and further expansion beyond 50% district Headquarters/towns shall lie with the Licensee depending on their business decision. There is no mandatory requirement for coverage of rural areas. However, the government operator, namely, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), who have been granted CMTS Licences covering whole of the country except for Delhi and Mumbai Metro City Service areas, envisages to cover the National Highways which will provide incidental limited coverage benefits to the rural areas f!
alling enroute.
(c ) At present, there is no legal hurdle in starting CMTS by the Government operatos.
(d) & (e) Do not arise in view of (c ) above.