As per data received from Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), Department of Telecom’s field unit and State Governments as of March '2022, out of 6,44,131 villages (villages are as per data of Registrar General of India as of November 2019) in the country, around 6,05,230 villages are having mobile coverage and 38,901 villages are not having mobile towers and coverage. Government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) provide telecommunication connectivity in the country in a phased manner. Government through funding from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is implementing various schemes for providing mobile network coverage in all uncovered villages of the country. The major USOF schemes are as below:

• Saturation of 4G mobile services in uncovered villages across the country. The estimated project cost is Rs. 26,316 Cr.
• Provision of 4G mobile services in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas Phase-II. The estimated project cost is Rs. 2211 Cr.
• Upgradation from 2G to 4G mobile technology of all LWE Phase-I sites. The estimated project cost is Rs. 2425 Cr.
• Provision of 4G Mobile Services in North Eastern Region of the country under Comprehensive Telecom Development Program for NER. The estimated cost for schemes is Rs. 3637 Cr.
• Provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 7,287 Aspirational District villages (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha) and provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 502 uncovered villages of Aspirational Districts in four States (namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan).  The estimated cost for projects is Rs. 7152 Cr.
• Provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 354 uncovered villages of J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Border area & other priority areas. The estimated project cost is Rs. 337 Cr.
• Provision of 4G Mobile Coverage in 85 uncovered Villages and seamless 4G Mobile coverage of NH223 in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The estimated project cost is Rs 130 Cr.

As such no demand from public is pending for installation of mobile towers of BSNL for Chitrakoot and Banda districts of the State Uttar Pradesh. In Chitrakoot district, out of 657 villages, 635 number of villages are covered with mobile network and 22 villages are uncovered which are also being covered with mobile connectivity under USOF Schemes. All 734 villages of Banda district are having mobile network. In the State of Rajasthan, out of 46,077 villages, 42,761 villages are having mobile coverage and remaining villages are being covered by Government and TSPs in phased manner.

As per the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) dated 15-06-2022 for auction of 5G spectrum and the license conditions, the rollout obligations are required to be met over a period of five years, in a phased manner, from the date of allocation of spectrum. Further expansion of mobile networks beyond the mandatory rollout obligations, depends on the techno-commercial consideration of the TSPs. The 5G services are being rolled out in the country including the Chitrakoot and Banda districts of the State Uttar Pradesh in phased manner.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Communications, Shri Devusinh Chauhan in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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RKJ/M

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