(a) the details of major achievements of the Government in communication sector during each of the last three years;
(b) the details of the target set in the said sector during the current financial year; and
(c) the details of the action plan formulated by the Government for the next two years to strengthen the aforesaid sector?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) The details of major achievement of the Department of Telecommunications are at Annexure.
(b) The details of major targets set by the Department of Telecommunications during the current financial year are as under:
i. To start work under Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Phase-II project, wherein 4072 mobile towers would be set up for providing mobile services in locations identified by MHA.
ii. To connect the balance Gram Panchayats with last mile high speed broadband connection under the BharatNet Phase II Project.
iii. To complete enhancement of satellite bandwidth from 1 Gbps to 2 Gbps in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
iv. To start work of laying of submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connectivity between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
v. To issue National Digital Communications Policy -2018.
vi. To lay the balance OFC under the Network for Spectrum (NFS) project.
vii. To set up 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots at existing rural exchanges of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
viii. To provide connectivity to uncovered villages of the North Eastern Region (NER).
(c) The action plan proposed for the next two years are as under:
i. To complete the ongoing projects such as: LWE Phase II, NFS, A&N Islands connectivity through submarine OFC, connectivity in the NER.
ii. To start work for providing connectivity between Kochi and Lakshadweep Islands.
iii. To start work on the objectives of the proposed National Digital Communications Policy -2018, such as:
(a) Provide Universal broadband connectivity to every citizen.
(b) Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats of India by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022.
(c) Enable 100 Mbps broadband on demand to all key development institutions; including all educational institutions.
(d) Achieve ‘unique mobile subscriber density’ of 55 by 2020 and 65 by 2022.
(e) Enable deployment of public Wi-Fi Hotspots; to reach 5 million by 2020 and 10 million by 2022.
(f) Provide connectivity to all uncovered areas.
ANNEXURE
Major Achievements of the Department of Telecommunications during the last three years
Some of the major achievements are:
1. Most Transparent Spectrum Auctions
a. Cumulative 1,736 MHz of Spectrum was auctioned between 2014 and 2016 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 & 2500 MHz bands
b. Spectrum auction fetched highest ever upfront payment of nearly Rs. 65,000 Crores in 2015 and 2016
c. DoT received an Excellence Award from CVC in November 2017 for “Transparency in e-auction of spectrum in 2016”
2. Key Reforms in the Telecom Sector
a. Spectrum trading and sharing allowed to boost competition
b. Spectrum harmonization undertaken resulting in freeing up of 197 MHz spectrum
c. Sharing of Passive (e.g. fibre, towers) and Active (e.g. BTSs) infrastructure allowed
d. Deferred payment of liabilities allowed for Telecom Service Providers to reduce financial stress in sector
e. Easing of Right of Way (RoW) Rules and charges through notification
f. Aadhaar based e-KYC for issuing mobile connections enabled
g. Full Mobile Number Portability enabled
h. Virtual Network Operators (VNOs) license introduced for effective infrastructure utilization and to boost services in under-served areas
3. Telecom Infrastructure
a. No. of mobile BTS more than doubled from 7.9 Lakh in May 2014 to ~ 18 Lakh in May 2018
b. 3 Lakh KMOFC laid by Department
c. Average of more than 200 KM of OFC laid per day
d. 1 lakh Gram Panchayatsconnected through High Speed OFC network
e. Significant boost to Make-in-India; Telecom equipment deployed in BharatNet has been fully designed, developed and manufactured in India.
f. Triggered ITI turnaround; turned Profitable for first time in 16 years
4. Improved Coverage of Telecom Services
a. Overall Tele-density in the country increased to 93% in March 2018.
b. Mobile Internet subscriptions almost doubled from 233 Million in March 2014 to496 Million in March 2018.
c. Over 75% increase in Internet Coverage
d. Average mobile data usage per subscriber grew 31 times– from 62 MB per month in 2014 to 1.9 GB per monthin December 2017
e. Highest mobile data consumption globallyat 1.5 Billion GB per month
f. Cheapest tariff globally –Rs. 21 per GB
g. More than 350 million broadband subscribers added
5. Economic Impact
a. Huge jump in FDI inflows in Telecom Sector – from $1.3 Bn in 2015-16 to $6.1 Bn in 2017-18
b. Digital payment transactions through mobile more than doubledfrom 168 million in November 2016 to 380 million in December 2017.
6. Other Projects being undertaken (in progress)
a. Network for Spectrum
i. Almost 90% (51,000 km) of OFC has been laid in the past three years.
ii. Project with revised estimate of ~ INR 24,000 Crores
iii. On completion of this project, Defence Forces will have a fully dedicated and secure network with in-built redundancy
b. Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas
i. 2,335 Towers installed in Phase I, with a total outlay of Rs. 4,781 Cr
ii. 4,072 Towers approved for installation in Phase II by 2020, with total outlay of Rs. 7,330 Cr
c. North East Region
i. Biggest ever Telecom spend in North East Region of Rs. 10,834 Crores (ongoing and planned projects)
ii. 7,000 telecom towers to be installed for connectivity to over 8,600 villages
iii. 3,200 KM of OFC network to be laid
d. Submarine Cable Connectivity
i. Submarine cable connectivity to mainland Andaman &Nicobar islands
ii. Intra island connectivity for Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands
iii. Total outlay of Rs. 2,250 Crores
e. Provisioning of Wi-Fi Services
i. 25,000 hot spots by BSNL in rural exchanges
ii. 7,000 hot spots (e-Choupals) by Common Service Centers
*****************