Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Recommendations on Improving Telecom Services in the North-Eastern States: An Investment Plan 26 th September, 2013 Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, New Delhi – 110002 CONTENTS TITLE PAGE NO. CHAPTER –I INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER –II METHODOLOGY ADOPTED FOR 17 PLANNING AND INVESTMENT CHAPTER –III COMPREHENSIVE TELECOM PLAN 52 FOR ASSAM CHAPTER –IV COMPREHENSIVE TELECOM PLAN 72 FOR MEGHALAYA CHAPTER –V COMPREHENSIVE TELECOM PLAN 83 FOR MIZORAM CHAPTER –VI COMPREHENSIVE TELECOM PLAN 94 FOR TRIPURA CHAPTER –VII COMPREHENSIVE TELECOM PLAN 103 FOR ARUNACHAL PRADESH CHAPTER –VIII COMPREHENSIVE TELECOM PLAN 122 FOR MANIPUR CHAPTER –IX COMPREHENSIVE TELECOM PLAN 135 FOR NAGALAND CHAPTER –X COMPREHENSIVE TELECOM PLAN 147 FOR SIKKIM CHAPTER –XI SUPPORTING POLICY INITAITIVES 156 AND ACTION CHAPTER –XII SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 169 ANNEXURES 173 ABBREVATIONS USED 264 ii CHAPTER-I INTRODUCTION 1.1. The North Eastern Region (NER) of India comprises the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. They form part of the East Himalayan region. These eight States cover an area of 2,62,189 sq. km, about 8% of the country’s total geographical area. The region has a long international boundary. About 96% of the boundary of this region has China and Bhutan in the north, Myanmar in the east, Nepal in the west and Bangladesh in the south and west. Many of the States in the region like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, have large tribal populations. The region is characterized by an extremely tough terrain with poor infrastructure like rail, roads, electricity and telecom. 1.2. Connectivity is the most important key to development of a region; be it road, rail, waterway, air, power or telecom. Connectivity ensures that an otherwise distant region is part and parcel of the mainland. It helps in overall economic development and social integration of the region. Robust telecom and broadband connectivity and provision of quality telecom services is an avowed national priority. Hence, delivering such quality services and connectivity to the NER is an integral component of realising the national objective. 1.3. There is a direct correlation between increase in tele-density and growth of GDP. ‘North Eastern Region Vision 2020’ lays special emphasis on development of telecom facilities in the NER for improving the economic well-being of the region. Attempts have been made in the past to increase telecom connectivity and tele-density in the region. However, the results so far have not been very encouraging. Sensing the urgent need to have a 1 comprehensive telecom plan for the NER, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) requested TRAI to carry out a gap analysis, estimate the investment required, and formulate a comprehensive telecom plan for the NER. 1.4. In the present licensing regime, the NER States fall in three telecom Licensed Service Areas (LSAs). The Assam LSA covers only the State of Assam. The North East LSA covers six states viz. Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur. Sikkim is in the West Bengal LSA. However, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for its operational purposes has further divided North East LSA into North East-1 (Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram) and North East-2 (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur) Telecom Circles. 1.5. A comparison of tele-density figures for wireless subscribers for the month of May 2013 of various Indian States show that telecom penetration in half the States in NER is below the national average. Figure 1.1 Comparison of wireless tele-density between NER and rest of India 2 1.6. The tele-density figures depicted in figure 1.1 are for wireless services and have been calculated based on the 2011 Census. Since the projected population figures based on 2011 census have not yet been released, the population figures for 2013 have been extrapolated. The variation of wireless tele-density in some States from the national average wireless tele-density of 70% for May 2013 is shown below : Figure 1.2 1.7. Similarly if data on uncovered villages in various States is analyzed and compared with the data for the NER (refer table below), the gaps in telecom coverage in the NER become apparent. 3 Table 1.1 State Total Villages Villages % Villages as per 2001 uncovered as uncovered census per USOF/TSPs Andhra Pradesh 28123 3786 13.5 Jharkhand 32615 5308 16.3 Bihar 45098 271 0.6 Gujarat 18539 1938 10.5 Haryana 6955 32 0.5 Himachal Pradesh 20118 1997 9.9 J&K 6652 636 9.6 Karnataka 29406 1197 4.1 Maharashtra 43711 5351 12.2 Madhya Pradesh 55393 1771 3.2 Chhattisgarh 20308 5460 26.9 Orissa 51349 6734 13.1 Punjab 12673 100 0.8 Rajasthan 41353 3153 7.6 Tamil Nadu 16317 191 1.2 UP 107452 5013 4.7 Uttarakhand 16826 1429 8.5 West Bengal 40782 899 2.2 Arunachal Pradesh* 5590 3126 55.9 Assam* 26550 3536 13.3 Manipur* 2612 634 24.3 Meghalaya* 6851 2612 38.1 Mizoram* 830 268 32.3 Nagaland* 1435 143 10.0 Sikkim* 452 27 6.0 Tripura* 901 2 0.2 * Note - Population and coverage data for North East Region states is as per 2011 census and as collected by TRAI from various TSPs operating in these States respectively; For others, the data is as per 2001 census and USOF website respectively The reasons for this gap need to be analyzed. Investments in the telecom infrastructure in NER have to be planned and put in place to bridge the gap. Reference from the DoT 1.8. On 22 nd April 2013, the DoT wrote to TRAI on the subject ‘Augmentation/Revamping of Telecom Services in North Eastern States 4 including the State of Sikkim-Study regarding gap and investment required for formulation of a telecom plan’. The DoT’s letter raised concerns about the low tele-density in the North Eastern States as compared to the other parts of the country and also on the poor Quality of Services (QoS) offered by various Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in these States (Annexure-I). The DoT requested TRAI to provide its recommendations under section 11(1)(a)(iv) of the TRAI Act on a comprehensive Telecom Plan for the NER after making a gap analysis and investment required for providing quality telecommunication services to the North East Region. TRAI’s Approach to formulate a Comprehensive Telecom Plan for NER 1.9. The Authority has formulated its recommendations on a comprehensive telecom plan for revamping and augmenting telecom services in the NER. The recommendations are grounded in three main constituents- a) The Gap analysis; b) The State-wise suggested telecom plans; c) The estimation of investment required for implementation of the suggested overall plan. 1.10. The literal meaning of a ‘gap’ is a ‘conspicuous difference’ or an ‘imbalance’. In the context of the NER, the gap in telecom infrastructure essentially falls under four categories. These are the gaps between : a) The desired bandwidth and existing transmission bandwidth at the State Capital and District Head Quarters; b) The Minimum required infrastructure and existing infrastructure to support basic 2G mobile coverage; c) The desired infrastructure to have ‘state-of-the-art’ connectivity for data and the existing infrastructure; and d) The desired connectivity and existing connectivity across National Highways passing through the States. 5 The gap analysis for telecom infrastructure and services in the NER has been done in terms of the above four categories and, accordingly, the investment required has been worked out. Consultation with stakeholders 1.11. To assess the present status of the telecom infrastructure and the gaps, the Authority has held detailed consultation with various stakeholders. Meetings were held with Universal Service Obligation Fund Administrator (USOFA), the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT), National Informatics Center (NIC), Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), Railtel Corporation of India (Railtel) and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and with TSPs operating in the NER (Annexure-II) . Data on the existing telecom infrastructure and telecom coverage in the NER States was collected from all TSPs operating in these States. The latest census data based on the 2011 Census has been obtained from the Census of India. The demographic data for the NER (refer Annexure-III ) shows there are more than 45,000 villages in all eight NER States. Accordingly, data from TSPs on the present status of telecom coverage for over 45,000 villages was collected. The data obtained from various sources has been compiled; subsequently, reconciliation has been done to correct aberrations and incongruencies. The gaps in infrastructure and coverage have been identified based on an analysis of this cleaned data. 1.12. The State Governments are vitally important stakeholders in this exercise. Telecom infrastructure is crucial to overall administration, coordination across State Departments/Agencies, and for the success of most development projects and schemes. The Authority sent four teams of senior officers to meet Chief Ministers and top-level State Government officers of some of the NER States with the mandate to understand their perspective and concerns about the telecom infrastructure in these States. The State Governments were also requested to spell out their 6 priorities so that these could be suitably reflected in the proposed investment plan. The State Governments were also apprised of the challenges that the TSPs have been facing in rolling out their network in the NER. 1.13. TSPs who are providing services in the NER have raised several problems that they are facing in rolling out services in these States. The broad challenges that are common to the region brought out by the TSPs are detailed below.