(a) whether the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) has directed the Mobile Service Providers to extend the ‘No Service
Zone’ beyond 500 meters in the border areas of the country;
(b) if so, whether the anti-social elements are using Indian signals and using connections in the fictitious names;
(c) if so, whether the Government has any monitoring to ensure that the Mobile Service providers are not violating the
norms of the DoT; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI A. RAJA)
(a) The word ‘No Service Zone’ was introduced vide amendment to relevant license condition of mobile service providers
on 26th February, 2007. The area covered in “No Service Zone’ was 500 Meter width along International Borders. Subsequently,
vide amendment dated 11th July 2008, the ‘No Service Zone’ restriction has been removed and now the service providers can
provide mobile services within Indian territory in border areas also.
(b) to (d) It has come to the notice of the Government that anti-social elements are taking advantage of availability
of mobile services along the International Border for trans-border communcation with their counterparts/mentor(s) across
the border and the mobile connections in some cases have been issued without proper verification. In order to enforce the
terms & conditions of license on the service providers, Telecom Enforcement, Resource & Monitoring (TERM) Cells of DoT
located in the field at various locations throughout the country have been monitoring compliance of various license
conditions to address the concern of security agencies.