Question : TELECOM SERVICES AT DISTRICT LEVEL

(a) whether the telecommunication facilities/services at district level are in very bad shape in some States in the country including Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra;

(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;

(c) whether the Government has any mechanism to assess the quality of services at district level;

(d) if so, the details of the districts where telecom facilities and mobile towers are insufficient and the services are very poor; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government for the expansion of the facilities, improving the services and installation of mobile towers particularly, wireless phone services in the affected districts including Ghat area in Maharashtra?

MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI MILIND DEORA)

(a) & (b) Madam, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been monitoring Quality of Service (QoS) provided by Cellular Mobile Services and Basic Telephone services, against the notified quality of service standards, through Performance Monitoring Repoorts (PMRs) submitted by service providers for the entire License Service Area (LSA). Hence, noo separate information is available at district level, As per the Performance Monitoring Reports submitted by Cellular Mobile Service Providers for the quarter ending December 2013, by and large the Telecom Operators are meeting quality of service standards, however, some shortcoming in the benchmarks were observed for some Telecom Operators in some LSAs in respect of parameters Worst affected Base Transceiver Station (BTS) due to downtime, Worst affected cells having >3% Traffic Channel (TCH) drop (Call drop), Accessibility to Call Centre and Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 60 seconds. In respect of Basic Telephone Service (Wireline), shortcoming with the benchmark is mostly observed in respect of the parameters relating Fault Incidence, fault repair, Response time to the customer for assistance and Termination/Closure of Service.

(c) & (d) TRAI monitors QoS for the entire License Service Area. Hence, no separate information is available at district level. For ensuring quality of service, TRAI is closely monitoring the performance of service providers against the quality of service benchmarks and regular interactions are held with the service providers for improving quality of service. TRAI has also been imposing financial disincentive on service providers for failure to comply with the quality of service benchmarks.

(e) The expansion of Telecom Networks by the Private Telecom Service Providers is governed by their techno-commercial interests. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has initiated action for expansion of GSM (Global System of Mobile Communication) lines under Phase VII project in its area of operation, including Ghat area of Maharashtra. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has also proposed to expand its mobile network to further augment and improve coverage. Additionally, Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) also plans & implements schemes for expansion and improvement of Telecom Services/Infrastructure in rural & remote areas of the country.