CELLULAR MOBILE PHONES IN NORTH EASTERN REGION

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RAJYA SABHA

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have planned for providing a total of 95,350 Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS) connections in the North Eastern Region(NER). The plans have been based on coverage of District Headquarters, important tourist centers, important pilgrimage places and important national highways etc. These connections are expected to be rolled out during the current financial year subject to clearance of the BSNL radio transmission sites from Standing Advisory Committee on Frequency Allocation (SACFA) angle.

Giving this information in a written reply to a question by Shri Matilal Sarkar in the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Shri Ashok Pradhan said that for CMTS, Assam and North-East Telecom Circle Service Areas cover the North-Eastern Region. Licences for providing CMTS in these two service areas have been granted to Indian companies including BSNL. In terms of CMTS connection, no target has been fixed by the Government for the CMTS licensees in any of the Service Areas, including for North-Eastern States.