THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) & (b) It is Government’s endeavour to provide satisfactory telecom services in all parts of the country including rural, backward & hilly areas. Poor quality of electricity supply, frequent cable cuts, difficulties in maintenance are some of the reasons affecting the quality of service in hilly, remote and rural areas. Non payment by custodian for use of Village Public Telephone is also a reason for curtailment of services.
The details of Village Public Telephones (VPTs) and Mobile coverage in villages are as below:
Village Public Telephones: As on 31.05.2015, 5,81,183 out of the 5,93,601 inhabited villages [i.e. 97.9%] of the country as per Census 2001 have been covered with Village Public Telephones (VPTs). State/Circle-wise details is given at Annexure-I.
Mobile Connectivity: It is estimated that there are about 55,669 villages in the country that do not have mobile coverage. State-wise list of uncovered villages is given at Annexure-II.
Service providers install mobile towers at different locations based on economic viability. In addition Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) supports establishment of towers in rural and remote areas through the levy collected from service providers.
Shared Mobile Infrastructure Scheme: 7317 Mobile towers have been installed with the financial support of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) under the Shared Mobile Infrastructure Scheme in villages or cluster of villages having population of 2000 or more and not having mobile coverage. The infrastructure so created is capable of being shared by three service providers for provision of mobile services. 16,254 BTSs (Base Transceiver Stations) have been commissioned by Service Providers at these towers for provisioning of mobile services. The scheme was implemented during the period from June, 2007 to November, 2013. The scheme is closed. The State-wise details of towers installed under the scheme are given at Annexure-III.
Under the Shared Mobile Infrastructure Scheme, as on 31.05.2015, a subsidy of Rs. 403.42 cr has been disbursed to various service providers. The Circle wise disbursement of funds is given at Annexure-IV.
(c) to (e) : Mobile coverage to balance uncovered villages in the country is to be provided in a phased manner over a period of five years.
Providing mobile coverage to the uncovered villages in the North Eastern Region (NER) has been taken up initially as part of Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for NER.
(i) Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region: Government approved a proposal on 10.09.2014 to implement a Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region, at an estimated expenditure of Rs. 5336.18 crore. The Project envisages provision of mobile coverage to 8621 identified uncovered villages, installation of 321 mobile tower sites along National Highways and strengthening of transmission network in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
(ii) Scheme for Mobile Communication Services in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected Areas : Government, on 20.08.2014, approved a project to provide Mobile Services in 2199 locations in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, at an estimated expenditure of Rs. 3567.58 crore. The scheme is being executed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). A sum of Rs. 596.51 crore has been released to BSNL under the scheme till 31.05.2015.
(iii) Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan in Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands: Telecom Commission has given ‘in principle’ approval on 07.11.2014 for Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan including provision of mobile connectivity for Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands with the total estimated investment of Rs. 221.05 crores.
The fund allocated and disbursed for all activities of USOF during the current five year plan (2012-17) is as under:-
(Amount in crore of rupees)
Financial Year 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Allocated 625.00 3000.00 2086.98 2400.00
Expenditure 625.00 2163.45 2086.98 14.04
(Till 30.06.15)
Annexure-I
State/Circle-wise details of Village Public Telephone and Mobile coverage
Name of the State/Circle Number of inhabited revenue villages as per Census 2001 No. of VPTs provided
Andaman & Nicobar 501 352
Andhra Pradesh/Telangana 26613 25107
Assam 25124 24692
Bihar 39032 38941
Jharkhand 29354 28821
Gujarat 18159 18054
Haryana 6764 6678
Himachal Pradesh 17495 16390
Jammu & Kashmir 6417 6385
Karnataka 27481 27451
Kerala 1372 1321
Madhya Pradesh 52117 51986
Chhattisgarh 19744 18328
Maharashtra 41442 40544
Meghalaya 5782 5290
Mizoram 707 704
Tripura 858 858
Arunachal Pradesh 3863 2810
Manipur 2315 2174
Nagaland 1278 1263
Odisha 47529 45215
Punjab 12301 12065
Rajasthan 39753 39568
Tamilnadu 15492 15492
Uttar Pradesh 97942 97852
Uttarakhand 15761 15271
West Bengal 37955 37142
Sikkim 450 429
Total 5,93,601 5,81,183
Annexure-II
State-wise list of uncovered villages with mobile services
S.No. Name of the State/UT Total number of inhabited villages Number of Uncovered Villages
1. Andhra Pradesh 16335 3812
2. Arunachal Pradesh 5258 2886
3. Assam 25372 2885
4. Bihar 39073 2534
5. Chhattisgarh 19567 4041
6. Goa 320 65
7. Gujarat 17843 1275
8. Haryana 6642 2
9. Himachal Pradesh 17882 2416
10. Jammu & Kashmir 6337 460
11. Jharkhand 29492 5949
12. Karnataka 27397 0
13. Kerala 1017 0
14. Madhya Pradesh 51929 5926
15. Maharashtra 40959 4792
16. Manipur 2515 610
17. Meghalaya 6459 2389
18. Mizoram 704 258
19. Nagaland 1400 137
20. Odisha 47675 10398
21. Punjab 12168 91
22. Rajasthan 43264 770
23. Sikkim 425 23
24. Tamil Nadu 15049 113
25. Telangana 10347 1009
26. Tripura 863 2
27. Uttar Pradesh 97814 266
28. Uttarakhand 15745 1876
29. West Bengal 37469 487
30. Andaman & Nicobar 684 190
31. Puducherry 0
32. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 5
33. Daman & Diu 1
34. Lakshadweep 1
TOTAL 597608 55669
Annexure-III
State-wise details of towers installed under the Shared Mobile Infrastructure scheme
Sl. No. Name of State Total no. of sites commissioned
1 Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 327
2 Arunachal Pradesh 65
3 Assam 87
4 Bihar 453
5 Chhattisgarh 553
6 Gujarat 59
7 Haryana 12
8 Himachal Pradesh 258
9 Jammu & Kashmir 81
10 Jharkhand 273
11 Karnataka 381
12 Kerala 43
13 Madhya Pradesh 933
14 Maharashtra 956
15 Manipur 69
16 Meghalaya 107
17 Mizoram 43
18 Nagaland 50
19 Odisha 434
20 Punjab 14
21 Rajasthan 403
22 Sikkim 6
23 Tamilnadu 327
24 Telangana 269
25 Tripura 115
26 Uttarakhand 184
27 Uttar Pradesh 652
28 West Bengal 163
TOTAL 7,317
Annexure-IV
Circle wise disbursement of funds
State Amount (in Rs. Cr.)
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 53.52
Assam 5.60
Bihar 14.46
Chhattisgarh 37.33
Gujarat 2.01
Haryana 0.42
Himachal Pradesh 11.10
Jammu & Kashmir 10.00
Jharkhand 11.61
Karnataka 17.56
Kerala 1.67
Maharashtra 45.74
Madhya Pradesh 25.90
North East (NE-I) (Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram) 40.14
North East-II (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland) 16.60
Odisha 17.38
Punjab 0.47
Rajasthan 21.66
Tamil Nadu 10.27
Uttar Pradesh(East) 32.60
Uttar Pradesh (West) 9.08
Uttaranchal 12.55
West Bengal 5.75
Total 403.42
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