Question : Mobile Services in Villages

(a) whether a large number of villages in the country are not covered by mobile services;

(b) if so, the details thereof including the number of such villages, State/UT-wise and the reasons therefor along with the steps being taken by the Government in this regard, especially in the State of Bihar;

(c) the details of the mobile towers and telephone exchanges installed by the Government across the country to provide mobile and telephone connectivity to the left out villages/areas during each of the last three years and the current year, State/ UT-wise;

(d) the number of mobile towers and telephone exchanges presently working and likely to be installed in the country, State/UT-wise; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

Answer given by the minister

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND
ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) & (b) As per data collected from the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in 2018, it was estimated that there are 43088 inhabited villages (as per the Census 2011) in the country which are not covered by mobile services. The details are at Annexure-I. The reasons for not having mobile services in these villages include, inter-alia, remote and tough terrain, areas diversely located with scattered population and commercially non-viable operations. Mobile coverage in such villages is being provided by the Government and Telecom Service Providers in a phased manner. Following projects are being implemented by the Government for providing/ facilitating telecom services:

(i) Under Left Wing Extremism affected areas Phase-II project, Government has approved installation of 3465 mobile towers for providing mobile connectivity including 106 mobile towers in Bihar.
(ii) Providing mobile connectivity in 361 villages of uncovered border areas, Ladakh and Kargil Region and other priority areas including 11 uncovered villages in Bihar.
(iii) A Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region to provide mobile coverage in uncovered villages, along with National Highways and to strengthen transmission network
(iv) Laying of submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands
(v) Satellite Bandwidth Augmentation upto 4 Gbps for Andaman & Nicobar Islands
(vi) Mobile connectivity to cover uncovered villages and along National Highway (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
(vii) Augmentation of Satellite bandwidth from 318 Mbps to 1.71 Gbps for Lakshadweep Islands
(viii) Under BharatNet project to provide broadband connectivity in all the Gram Panchayats (approx 2.5 lakh) in the country.

(c) The details are at Annexure-II.

(d) & (e) The details of mobile towers and telephone exchanges working in the License Service Areas (LSAs) are at Annexure-III. Planning for installation of mobile towers and telephone exchanges by any Telecom Service Provider (TSP) is an ongoing process and depends on various factors like commercial viability, subscriber concentration, technology to be adopted etc.

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