Initiatives and reforms done by the Ministry of Communications in last three years

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Communications & Information Technology

25-May-2017 19:51 IST

Shri Manoj Sinha brief about the initiatives and reforms done by the Ministry of Communications in last three years 

India becomes second largest network in the world with crossing the landmark of one billion telephone subscribers: Shri Manoj Sinha

Total broadband connection till March 2017 crosses 276.52 million: Shri Sinha

Mega spectrum auction fetches highest ever upfront payment of Rs. 32434 crore against 965 MHz of spectrum since 2012: Shri Sinha

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) launches two branches in Raipur and Ranchi: Shri Sinha

129 Post Office Passport SevaKendras (POPSKs) in various parts of the country has been agreed with MEA, 50 Operationalized till now: Shri Manoj Sinha

Shri Manoj Sinha, Union Minister of State for Communications held a Press Conference today to brief about the initiatives and reforms done by the Ministry in last three years. Shri Manoj Sinha said that the Ministry of Communications achieved significant mile stones since May 2014. A number of initiatives were taken for efficient implementation of policies through Department of Telecomm and Department of Post. Shri Sinha said that interests of consumers who use services provided by the ministry are high on the agenda of the Government. 

Three Years Achievement of the Department of Telecommunication

1. Physical performance

·         The Indian telecom sector has made rapid strides during the last few years because of several reforms and initiatives undertaken by the Department of Telecommunications. 

·         India now has the second largest network in the world, next only to China. India crossed the landmark of one billion telephone subscribers in the year 2015-16.

·         Total subscription now stands at 1194.99 million as on 31.3.2017.

·         501.81 million connections are in rural areas and 693.18 million in the urban areas. 

·         The wireless telephony constitutes 97.96% (1170.59 million) of all subscriptions whereas share of the landline telephony now stands at 2.04% (24.40 million) at the end of March, 2017.

·         261.97 million telephones were added during April 2014 to March, 2017 as compared to 86.69 million net addition during the April, 2011 to March 2014.

·         Mobile phone addition touched 266.07 million during the period from April 2014 to March 2017 as compared to 92.92 million during the April 2011 to March 2014

·         Total internet connections as on December 2016 was 391.5 million. Total broadband connection till March 2017 stood at 276.52 million.

·         139.91 million Internet connections have been added during March 2014 to December 2016.

·         Data traffic in India has shown a six fold increase from 561 million GB in the first quarter to 2988 million GB in the third quarter of 2016-17.

·         FDI equity inflow in telecom sector from April, 2016 to March, 2017 has reached US $ 5564 million which is more than four times the average inflow of about 1.3 billion annually (since 2013-14). 

2. Spectrum reforms

·         The mega spectrum auction was held in October, 2016 sold 965 MHz of spectrum in different bands.  The auction fetched highest ever upfront payment of Rs. 32434 crore since 2012.

·         Reforms such as spectrum sharing, trading, and harmonistaion have been done in the year 2016 to facilitate rationalization and optimum use of resources.

3. Other policy reforms

·         The ‘Aadhaar based E-KYC services’ for issuing mobile connections has been prescribed from September, 2016.  Under this, a subscriber can authenticate himself using his biometrics at the point of sale.

·         One Nation - Full Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has been allowed since 3^rd July 2015.

  

4. Projects

·         The flagship BharatNet program is being implemented to link each of the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of India through Broadband optical fibre network.

·         As on date OFC has been laid in 202675 km covering 90027 Gram Panchayats (GPs). OFC pipes have been laid   in 2,24,340 km covering 100934 GPs.

·         Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for North-East Region (NER) has been approved to provide mobile coverage to 8621 uncovered villages, installation of 321 mobile towers along National Highways and strengthening of transmission network

·         Proposal to setup 25,000 Public Wi-Fi Hotspots using the block-level infrastructure of BSNL’s Telephone Exchanges in rural areas has been approved.

·         A proposal for setting up of 5000 Wi-Fi Chaupals at Gram Panchayat levels in the 18 states of the country by CSC-SPV, at an estimated cost of`100 crore, to be funded from USOF, has  been approved.

·    An agreement is proposed to be signed with RailTel for setting up Wi-Fi hotspot at 200  at rural railway stations.

5. Consumer centric measures

·         Mobile phones sold in India now come with a dedicated “panic button” and Global Positioning System( GPS).

·         Department of Telecom has launched Tarang Sanchar, a web portal for Information sharing on Mobile Towers and EMF Emission Compliances. The portal can be accessed at www.tarangsanchar.gov.in

·         DoT had launched 1955 Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) in 5 states on 23/12/2016 and in remaining states on 12/1/2017 and 16/03/2017 for obtaining public feedback on call drops

·         Both Government and TRAI are taking all possible steps and pursuing with the TSPs to address the problem of call drop and bring it down within the permissible limit.

·         Department has launched “Twitterseva” on 2^nd August 2016 for obtaining feedback/grievances related to Telecom issues and services from the public.

6. MTNL

·         MTNL has launched a special program to progressively increase the fibre length by redeploying the broadband nodes (DSLAMS) near to the subscriber premises in Delhi and Mumbai thereby reducing copper length and enhancing the quality of broadband service.

·         MTNL is in the process of expansion of mobile network by adding 1080 new 3G sites for upgrading Data handling capacity to 10 Gbps.

·         Provided Wi-Fi Hotspots with more than 100 Access points at various locations in Delhi including 7 tourist places i.e. Red Fort, QutubMinar, Lodhi Garden, Humayun Tomb, PuranaQila and 5 market places i.e. Nehru Place, HauzKhas, Defence Colony, Arobindo Marg, Green Park.

·         Provided connectivity to set up 500 Wi-Fi Hotspot by Government of Maharashtra, Project commissioned on 9^thJanuary, 2017.

·         MTNL provided connectivity at 133 locations for Area Traffic Control Project of Mumbai Traffic Police for Road Traffic Monitoring.

·         The free night calling facility was introduced for all landline customers for making local calls to any network in Delhi and Mumbai between 10 PM to 7 AM.

·         Launched Android based “My MTNL”APP.

·         Introduced single Pan India Customer Care No.1130.

7.  BSNL

·         Present Market Share of BSNL is 9.95% (as on 31.12.2016) which was 8.16% as on 31.12.2015.  The total income increased by 7.05% upto third quarter w.r.t. previous year same period.  EBIDTA of BSNL which was (-) 691 CR in 2013-14 has become (+) 672 CR in 2014-15 & further (+) 3855 CR in 2015-16.

·         Till date BSNL has provided 5000 Wi-Fi hotspots (approx) in more than 1000 locations.

·         BSNL is in process of setting up 40,000 Wi-FI hotspots with Mobile data off loading shortly to provide 4G experience to 2G/3G customers.

·         BSNL is planning to provide 25,000 hotspots in each of its 25,000 rural exchanges in 2016-17.

·         BSNL has provided Night free calling (between 9 PM to 7 AM) to all networks for BSNL customers.  Sunday free calling has also been extended.

·         In Maharashtra Circle 500 villages in Nagpur SSA were provide with internet facility through Public Wi-FI hotspots with Fund support of State Govt.

·         ECR CONE (Enhanced Capacity & Resilience of Core Network) has been planned with an estimated cost Rs.1000 Cr. for higher Data speed Broadband services, leasing of High capacity Bandwidth to Telecom Operators/ISP’s which will includes implementation of the Super Highway Transport Network with 100 Gbps line capacity.

Three Years Achievement of the Department of Posts

1-     IT Modernization Project

With a total outlay of Rs. 4909 Crore, the IT Modernization Project of Department of Posts is being carried out and as a result (a) Data Centre is operational at NaviMumbai, (b) Disaster Recovery Centre (DRC) has been powered on at Mysore on 15^th May, 2015, (c) So far 23277 Post Offices for Core Banking Solution (CBS) and 25406 Post Offices for Core Insurance Solution (CIS) have been migrated. Automated Teller machine (ATM) Services-installed at 980 locations, (d) ATMs are inter-operable w.e.f. 31-12-2016 and (e) 28252 locations have been networked on a single Wide Area Network (WAN) and connected to Data Centre.

2-     India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)

The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has launched two branches in Raipur and Ranchi. IPPB aims to catalyze financial inclusion in India, by ensuring that everyone has equal access to financial services, no matter who they are, what they earn and where they live. IPPB will take basic banking to the un-banked and the under-banked across all cross-sections of society.

3-     Setting up of Post Office Passport SevaKendras (POPSKs)

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Department of Posts (DOP) have agreed to utilize the Post Offices in the various States as Post Office Passport SevaKendras (POPSKs) for delivering passport related services to the citizens. In current phase, setting up of 129 Post Office Passport SevaKendras (POPSKs) in various parts of the country has been agreed with MEA. Out of 129, POPSKs at 50 locations have been inaugurated till 19.05.2017 including Metagalli Post Office, Mysuru in Karnataka and Dohod Head Office in Gujarat which were the first to commence operations.

4-     Mobile Money Transfer Service:-

Mobile Money Transfer is a service that enables instant money transfer from one place to another using mobile, through Indian Post Offices. The consumer just needs to have a mobile phone while the actual transmission of the money is initiated by the Postal Assistant, using his/her special handset. This service is a boon for those sections of our society who regularly remit money to their homes at faraway places and who have no access to any other financial instrument like bank account, etc. except mobile phones.

Kindly click the given link below for detailed 3 years achievements of Department of Telecommunication & Department of Posts: