(a) whether the Government proposes to take any steps to accelerate telecom connectivity in rural and remote areas across the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
(c) whether any such areas have been identified by the Government in the State of Andhra Pradesh and if so, the details thereof; and
(d) whether any time-frame has been chalked out by the Government for this purpose and if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND
ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) & (b) To accelerate telecom connectivity in rural and remote areas across the country, following projects are being implemented by the Government:
(i) Under Left Wing Extremism affected areas Phase-II project, Government has approved installation of mobile towers for providing mobile connectivity.
(ii) 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.
(iii) Laying of submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
(iv) Satellite Bandwidth Augmentation upto 4 Gbps for Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
(v) Mobile connectivity to cover uncovered villages and along National Highway (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
(vi) Providing mobile connectivity in 361 villages of uncovered border areas, Ladakh and Kargil Region and other priority areas.
(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) & (d) According to the data collected from the telecom service providers in 2018, it was estimated that out of 16,158 inhabited villages (as per census 2011) in the State of Andhra Pradesh, there were 2745 villages which are not covered by mobile services. Mobile coverage in these uncovered villages is being provided in a phased manner including connectivity to Gram Panchayats under BharatNet project and coverage under Left Wing Extremism affected areas Phase-II project.