Transcript Review of USO Fund Activities in North Eastern States

Working Group of National Advisory Council (NAC) on the
Development of North Eastern Region
Presentation on Telecom Sector
8th December 2011
New Delhi
1
Department of Telecommunications
Tele-density as on 31Oct. 2011
2
Category
Assam
North East
All India
Rural
27.47%
33.51%
36.81%
Urban
142.96%
145.80%
166.54%
Total
44.91%
60.72%
76.03%
Subscribers as on 31Oct. 2011
Category
Assam
Wireline (PSU)
248683
252274
26990602
Wireline (Private)
2508
225
6199025
Wireline (Total)
251191
252499
33189627
Wireless (PSU)
1538629
1625995
101818045
Wireless (Private)
12052318
6586028
779592774
13590947
8212023
881410819
13842138
8464522
914600446
Wireless (Total)
Total
3
North East
All India
Broadband connections in North-East
(BSNL)
S.
No.
Name of
State
1
2
3
4
5
6
4
Assam
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Tripura
Nagaland
Manipur
Arunachal
7 Pradesh
8 Sikkim
Total
Broadband
Internet
Connections Capacity Connections
34,626
39,093
33,257
53,879
8,215
9,268
1,88,028
14,921
11,708
35,920
19,346
11,210
58,660
6,597
6,583
8,683
7,482
4,854
7,750
3,347
1,89,435
13,656
6,104
3,00,893
6,644
3,210
1,02,713
Broadband coverage in NE Region
(BSNL)
DHQ
Cities
Villages
Total
Covered
Total
Covered
Total
Covered
No of
exchanges
Assam
26
26
125
125
25,124
6,995
432
432
Meghalaya
7
7
16
16
5,782
65
89
44
Mizoram
8
8
22
13
707
181
66
32
Tripura
4
4
23
23
858
289
89
56
NE-I
19
19
61
52
7,347
535
244
132
Arunachal
Pradesh
16
12
17
15
3,863
34
54
53
Nagaland
11
11
9
9
1,298
1,154
41
13
Mainpur
9
9
40
16
2,315
193
61
1
NE-II
36
32
66
40
7,476
1,381
156
67
Sikkim
4
4
12
12
450
135
58
10
State
5
ADSL
covered
Common Service Centers (CSCs)
coverage in NE Region
Sl.No
Name of State
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Assam
Meghalaya
Tripura
Mizoram
Nagaland
Arunachal Pradesh
Manipur
Sikkim
Total
6
Covered
CSCs
Circle in
WiMAX- WiMAXTotal
DSL EVDO
DSPT
circle
Phase-I Phase-II
Covered
Assam 4,220 801
51
NE-I
177
39
83
NE-I
145
23
0
NE-I
136
74
0
NE-II 215
50
0
NE-II 649 115
5
NE-II 399
36
0
WB
76
23
0
6,017 1,161 139
561
806
126
231
0
918
806
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2,219
122
23
200
281
120
36
23
3,024
USO Fund Activities in
NE Region
7
USO Fund

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USO Fund) was created w.e.f.
01.04.2002, with an amendment of Indian Telegraph Act

A percentage of Viability-Gap is funded to meet the Universal
Service Obligations for spread of telecom facilities in remote and
rural areas

Originally the thrust was on public & individual access which
included Village Public Telephones (VPTs), MARR replacements and
Rural Community Phones (RCPs) and Rural lines to individual users
(RDELs)

In December 2006, Indian Telegraph Act was amended to include
the activities of shared infrastructure, mobile services, broadband
connectivity, general infrastructure like OFC etc
8
USO Fund – Levy





Funded through Universal Access Levy @ 5% of Adjusted
Gross Revenue (AGR) from all Service Providers except
the pure value added service providers like Internet,
Voice Mail, E-Mail service providers etc
Levy amount is credited to Consolidated Fund of India
and made available to USOF after due appropriation by
the Parliament
Non-lapsable fund
Non-plan budget till 2010-11. Now it is budgeted under
Plan-expenditure
Bidding process followed for USOF activities
9
Scope of USO Fund

Activities under USO Fund are taken up under different
Streams of Indian Telegraph Rules






10
Stream I : Provision of Public Telephone Services
Stream II : Provision of Household Telephones in Net High Cost
rural & remote Areas
Stream III : Creation of Infrastructure for provision of Mobile
Services in rural & remote areas
Stream IV : Provision of Broadband connectivity to villages in a
phased manner
Stream V : Creation of general infrastructure in rural and
remote areas for development of telecom facilities
Stream VI: Induction of new technological developments in the
telecom sector in rural and remote areas
VPTs in all inhabited villages
 Village
Public Telephones (VPTs) have been
provided in 37,166 villages out of the
total of 40,377 inhabited villages in North
Eastern Region, with financial support
from USO Fund
 Remaining
villages are expected to be
provided with VPTs by May’2012
11
Status of Provision of VPTs (as on
Oct.2011)
S.
No.
State
Total No. of
Villages as
per Census
2001
No. of
inhabited
Villages as
per Census
2001
No. of
Villages
covered
with VPTs
1.
Assam
26,312
25,124
24,292
832
2.
Meghalaya
6,027
5,782
4,882
900
3.
Mizoram
817
707
704
3
4.
Tripura
870
858
858
0
5.
Manipur
2,391
2,315
2,143
172
6.
Arunachal Pradesh
4,065
3,863
2,595
1,268
7.
Nagaland
1,317
1,278
1,263
15
8.
Sikkim
452
450
429
21
Total
42,251
40,377
37,166
3,211
12
No. of
Villages yet
to be
covered
with VPTs
MARR Replacements
Dysfunctional VPTs working on Multi Access
Radio Relay (MARR) technology are being
replaced with that of reliable technology VPTs
 As on Oct’ 2011, BSNL has replaced 12600
existing dysfunctional Multi Access Radio Relay
(MARR)based VPTs in North Eastern Region
with reliable technology VPTs (out of 12,796)
 Replacement of remaining MARR based VPTs
is possible only by satellite phones

13
Status of MARR Replacement
S.
State
No.
Total MARR
based VPTs
to be
replaced
MARR based
VPTs
replaced
upto
31.10.2011
Balance
MARR based
VPTs to be
replaced
1.
Assam
9,294
9,197
97
2.
Meghalaya
1,056
999
57
3.
Mizoram
527
525
2
4.
Tripura
318
318
0
5.
Manipur
547
531
16
6.
Arunachal Pradesh
440
416
24
7.
Nagaland
544
544
0
8.
Sikkim
70
70
0
Total
12,796
12,600
196
14
Status of Provision of RCPs
2355 Rural Community Phones (RCPs)] were to be provided by BSNL in North
Eastern Region in villages with population exceeding 2,000 and not having PCO facility
15
S.
No.
State
Total RCPs to
be provided
RCPs
provided
1.
Assam
1,913
1,913
2.
Meghalaya
28
28
3.
Mizoram
21
21
4.
Tripura
207
207
5.
Manipur
89
89
6.
Arunachal Pradesh
7
7
7.
Nagaland
90
90
8.
Sikkim
0
0
Total
2,355
2,355
Individual Rural Lines



Agreements were signed with M/s BSNL in March
2005 for provision of individual rural household
Direct Exchange Lines (RDELs) to be installed during
01.04.2005 and 31.03.2007 in North Eastern Region
RDELs were to be installed in the eligible 104 Short
Distance Charging Areas (SDCAs), where cost of
providing telephone connection is more than the
revenue earned
1,44,791 RDELs have been provided in North East
states till 31.03.2010 i.e. till the closure of the
scheme
16
Status of Provision of RDELs
S.
State
No.
Total No. of
SDCAs
No. of
Eligible
SDCAs
RDELs
installed
1.
Assam
46
26
65,549
2.
Meghalaya
14
13
11,054
3.
Mizoram
9
9
13,081
4.
Tripura
7
5
27,086
5.
Manipur
13
10
6,436
6.
Arunachal Pradesh
33
30
2,781
7.
Nagaland
10
10
17,641
8.
Sikkim
2
1
1,163
Total
134
104
1,44,791
17
Shared Mobile Infrastructure Scheme





The Scheme was launched for Setting up and managing
infrastructure sites for provision of mobile services in rural
and remote areas, where there is no existing fixed wireless/
mobile coverage
The habitations of more than 2000 populations covered
Infrastructure so created to be shared by three service
providers for provision of mobile services
The agreements effective from 01.06.2007 were signed with
the successful bidders in May 2007
As on 31.10.2011, 520 towers out of 574 towers have been
set up in NE Region
18
Status of Provision of Towers
S.
No.
State
Name of the
Infrastructure
Provider
Total
Number of
Towers to
be setup
Number of Towers
commissioned as
on 31.10.2011
% Achievement
1.
Assam
RCIL
87
87
100
2.
Meghalaya
KEC
108
107
99.07
3.
Mizoram
KEC
43
37
86.04
4.
Tripura
BSNL
115
115
100
5.
Manipur
BSNL
97
63
64.29
6.
Arunachal
Pradesh
BSNL
67
61
61.85
7.
Nagaland
BSNL
51
44
86.27
8.
Sikkim
VESL
6
6
100
574
520
90.59%
Total
19
Status of Provision of mobile Services
S.
No.
State
No. of
Towers
commissio
ned as on
31.10.2011
BTS
installed
Aircel
BTS
installed
RTL/RCL
BTS
installed
BSNL
Total BTSs
commissioned
as on
31.10.2011
1.
Assam
87
87
87
87
261
2.
Meghalaya
107
88
60
69
217
3.
Mizoram
37
24
5
23
52
4.
Tripura
115
78
12
91
181
5.
Manipur
63
6
33
0
39
6.
Arunachal Pradesh
61
4
54
0
58
7.
Nagaland
44
6
12
0
18
8.
Sikkim
6
NA
5
NA
11
(6 VESL, 5 RTL)
Total
20
520
293
268
270
837/ 1560
Wireline Broadband



An Agreement was signed with BSNL on 20.01.09 for subsidy
disbursement towards provision of wire-line broadband
connectivity (with 512 kbps) in rural areas.
Rollout targets are to be met by 2014
The subsidy disbursement is for





Broadband connections,
Customer Premises Equipment (CPE)
Computer/Computing devices
Setting up of Kiosks for public access to broadband services.
Individual Users, Institutional Users such as Gram Panchayats,
Hr. secondary schools and Public Health Centers, Kiosks etc
are entitled for support
21
Status of Provision of BB Connectivity
S.
No.
State
No. of Rural
Exchanges
No. of
Broadband
Connections
to be
Provided
Broadband
Connections
Provided
1.
Assam
429
13,299
1,709
2.
Meghalaya
56
1,736
97
3.
Mizoram
35
1,085
177
4.
Tripura
58
1,798
465
5.
Manipur
54
1,674
149
6.
Arunachal Pradesh
105
3,255
372
7.
Nagaland
62
1,922
39
8.
Sikkim
47
1,457
60
Total
846
26,226
3,068
22
Optical Fiber Network

The scheme envisages to provide subsidy support for augmentation,
creation and management of intra-district SDHQ-DHQ OFC
Network

The aim is to make available the network capacity of 2.5 Gbps
(minimum) on sharing basis to other service providers for
transport of rural/remote area traffic at the prescribed rates

To start with, Assam has been taken up as first state. BSNL (the
selected bidder) has installed about 163 nodes so far (Out of 354)

USOF subsidy will be Rs. 98.89 Crore
23
Summary of Subsidy Disbursed

Total Fund collected till Mar’ 2011: Rs.37,223.92 Crore

Balance as on Mar’ 2011: Rs.16,803.84 Crore

Total fund allocated for FY2011-12: Rs.1650 Crore

Total Subsidy disbursed by USO Fund till Oct’ 2011: Rs.14917.07 Crore

Total Subsidy disbursed in North Eastern Region: Rs.321.9 Crore

Total Subsidy disbursed to BSNL: Rs.13039.29 Crore
24
Area-wise Scheme-wise Subsidy
Disbursal in NER till 31.10.2011
Area
ASSAM
MARR-A MARR-B MOB-I RCP
RDEL-A
RDEL-B RDEL-D RDEL-X
NEW VPT- NEW VPT- VPT
I
II
OPEX
WIRELINE- Grand
BB
Total
31.97
1.55
4.76
6.34
33.19
51.48
8.84
3.60
17.11
0.00
17.61
2.09
178.54
NE-I
3.17
1.85
15.84
0.20
8.16
29.83
3.44
3.31
5.81
2.36
6.55
0.28
80.81
NE-II
3.23
0.62
3.14
0.29
14.66
26.25
4.94
6.58
1.48
0.86
0.50
62.55
38.37
4.02
23.74
6.83
56.01
107.56
11.85
29.5
3.84
25.02
2.87
321.9
Total for
NER
25
12.28
Forthcoming Schemes
Augmentation of Intra-District SDHQ-DHQ OFC
Network Scheme in NE-I (Meghalaya, Manipur,
Tripura) to be executed by RailTel and Subsidy is
Rs. 89.50 Crore
 Augmentation of Intra-District SDHQ-DHQ OFC
Network Scheme in NE-II (Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur & Nagaland) and subsidy is Rs.298.50
Crore
 A scheme is envisaged for provision of mobile
services in all left out uncovered rural & remote
areas of the country including those in North
26
Eastern States

National Optical Fibre Network
(NOFN)

To create an incremental optical fibre network to connect all the 2,50,000
Gram Panchayats by OFC

Size of the incremental network : Approx. 0.5 million route-km

An SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) will be the executing agency.

Tri-partite agreement between Central Government, State Governments
and Executing Agency for providing Right of Way

Non-discriminatory access to all the service providers

The network is proposed to be completed in 2 years’ time with an
expenditure of Rs.20,000 Crore
27
Implementation Issues
Difficulty in acquisition of land
 Frequent cable cut during road widening and
repair work by road authorities
 Cable cut by other operators during laying of
pipe by them
 Cutting of cable by antisocial elements
 Disruption of cable due to land slides and
other natural calamities
 Poor electric supply

28
Implementation Issues
Difficult working conditions in the region
 Difficulty in transportation of telecom goods
 Due to Insurgency, it is difficult to develop
transmission network in North Cachar Hill and
Manipur State
 Limited number of contractors in NE Region and
problems in executing the work from outsiders
 Due to frequent bandh and difficult terrain the
working period is limited

29
Suggestions

Security for telecom installation is to be provided by
State Governments

Free Right-of–Way permission for laying cable

Cases of cable cutting to be investigated

TAX on telecom goods may be exempted

Electric supply to be improved

Provisioning of electric connection be done on
priority
30
THANK YOU
31