(a) whether the Government proposes to take any steps to ensure mobile telecommunication service in backward and tribal areas of the country especially in Maharashtra;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the time by which these services are likely to be provided in each village of backward and tribal areas in the country especially in the said State?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS,
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)
(a) and (b): Yes, to ensure mobile telecommunication service in backward and tribal areas of the country including Maharashtra, the following projects are approved/implemented by the Government:
(i) Under Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas Phase-I project, 2,343 towers in the country including 65 towers in Maharashtra have been installed;
(ii) Under LWE Phase-II project, Government has approved installation of 2,217 mobile towers for providing mobile connectivity in the country including 125 mobile towers in Maharashtra;
(iii) To provide mobile connectivity in 354 villages of uncovered border areas, Ladakh and Kargil Region and other priority areas;
(iv) A Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region to provide mobile coverage in uncovered villages and alongwith National Highways and to augment transmission network;
(v) A scheme for provisioning of 4G based Mobile service in 502 uncovered villages in Aspirational districts of four states Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan has been approved.
(vi) Under BharatNet project, broadband connectivity in all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2.5 lakh) in the country;
(vii) Laying of submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
(viii) Mobile connectivity to cover uncovered villages and along National Highway (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
(ix) Satellite bandwidth augmentation upto 4 Gbps and 1.71 Gbps for Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands respectively.
(c) Connectivity to the uncovered inhabited villages is being provided by the Government and the Telecom Service Providers in a phased manner.
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