(a) whether remote villages of Maharashtra have no internet facility;
(b) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
(c) whether in remote villages where internet/broadband facility is available, its service is at very slow speed;
(d) if so, the reasons therefor; and
(e) the details of the efforts made by the Government to solve the said problem?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) & (b) There are 28.10 rural internet subscribers per 100 population in Maharashtra as per “The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators” report of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) dated 30th September 2018.The National Digital Communications Policy -2018 has been notified with strategic objectives which inter-alia includes provisioning of Broadband for All.
(c) & (d) Internet speed depends inter-alia on various parameters such as technology deployed, network coverage, number of simultaneous users accessing the internet, connectivity to the website being accessed. The speed of mobile internet is further dependent on a number of factors such as distance from the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) serving the customer, the number of simultaneous users being served by the BTS, the traffic handled by the BTS etc. As such, the mobile users may experience different speeds at different locations and time of usage.
(e) Following initiatives/actions have been taken by the Government towards provisioning and improving broadband/internet services:
(i) Under BharatNet, broadband connectivity is to be provided to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs), including Maharashtra, where as on 27.01.2019, out of total 27936 GPs to be covered, 15,146 GPs have been connected and out of which 15,126 GPs are service ready .
(ii) As part of BharatNet project, the last mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband technology to access broadband /internet services is being provided at all the GPs in the country including Maharashtra. Every GP is being provided with, on an average, 5 Access Points (APs), i.e. 2 APs at Public places and 3 APs at Government Institutions such as schools, hospitals, post offices, police stations, etc.
(iii) Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) scheme for setting up of 25,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots using the infrastructure of telephone exchanges of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in rural areas, including 3800 in Maharashtra.
(iv) The Cabinet has approved a proposal for providing mobile connectivity in inhabited and uncovered villages at 4072 tower locations identified by Ministry of Home Affairs in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas in 10 States in Phase-II which includes including 136 locations in Maharashtra.