1.Rural Telecommunication in India Supervisor Dr. O.P. MishraPresented by Pradeep Kumar Research Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi- 221005 (U.P.) Email: pradeep.prasar@gmail.com Mobile No.: 09696112322

2. Rural Telecommunication in India 3. Contents: Introduction Process of Telecommunication Indian Telecom Sector Twelfth Plan Targets for the Telecommunication Sector Present Status of the Telecommunication Sector Recent Policy Initiatives in Telecom Sector Mobile Technology and Telecommunication Kisan Call Centre Services and SMS portal Rural Broadband Kiosks and NeGP Rural telephony Telecom Service Providers Rural Connectivity Challenge in India Benefits of Rural Telephony Conclusion 4. Introduction Teleis Greek word meaning distance and communication is started from the Latin word Communis which means common According to Roger and Shoemaker (1971) communication is the process by which message are transfer from source to receiver. Telecommunication is defined as the sharing the feeling to those people who are neared or far away from us. Telecommunication is the transmission of messages, over significant distances, for the purpose of communication 5. Process of Telecommunication SourceMessageReceiverChannel(Mobile, Internet, Radio, Television)Feed back 6. Indian Telecom Sector Phase I- Pre-Liberalization Era (1980-89) Phase II- Post Liberalization Era (1990-99) Phase III- Post 2000 7. Present Status of the Telecommunication Sector (As on December 31, 2012) Indian telecom network is second largest in the world after China. The country has 895.51 million telephone connections, including 864.72 million wireless telephone connections. Overall tele-density in the country is 73.34%. Urban tele-density is 149.55%, whereas rural teledensity is 39.90%. The share of wireless telephones in total telephones is 96.56%. The share of private sector in total telephones is 85.51%. Number of Broadband connections is 14.98 million. 8. Twelfth Plan Targets for the Telecommunication Sector Provision of 1200 million connections by 2017. Mobile access to all villages and increase rural tele-density to70 per cent by 2017. Broadband connection of 175 million by 2017. Commissioning of National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) Make available additional 300 MHz of spectrum for IMT services Making India a hub for telecom equipment manufacturing by incentivising domestic manufacturers with thrust on IPR, product development and commercialisation. Provide preferential market access for indigenously manufactured products. To increase domestic manufactured products in telecom network to the extent of 60 per cent with value addition of 45 per cent by 2017. Adoption of green policy in Telecom and incentivise use of renewable energy sources . 9. Recent Policy Initiatives in Telecom Sector 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.All villages shall receive telecom facilities. National Long Distance Service (NLD): open for unrestricted entry. The International Long Distance Services (ILDS): open to competition. The basic services: open to competition. 4th cellular operator (over existing 3, 1 each in 4 metros & 13 circles) permitted. Policies allowing private participation in several new services: Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS), digital Public Mobile Radio Trunked Service (PMRTS) and voice Mail/Audio text/Unified messaging WLL for telephone connections in urban, semi-urban and rural areas. 10. Continue8. Disinvestment of 2 public sector telecom undertakings, VSNLand HTL. 9. Steps to fulfill Universal Service Obligation (USO) funding and administration. 10. A decision to permit Community Phone Service for each panchayat. 11. Multiple Fixed Service Providers (FSPs) licensing guidelines announced. 12. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) allowed to set up International Internet Gateways & both Satellite & landing stations for submarine optical fiber cables. 13. Two categories of infrastructure providers have been allowed to provide end-to-end Bandwidth and dark fiber, right of way, towers and duct space. Guidelines by the Govt. to open up Internet Telephony. 11. Mobile Technology and Telecommunication Mobile technology refers to technology that is portable. Inthis since of the term mobile technology includes: mobile phones and smart phones end phones with more advanced capacities, laptop computer and global positioning system devices and so on Telecommunication technology defined in terms technicalfeatures and standards of services delivered to the consumers 12. Kisan Call Centre Services In case of mobile phone based services central and stateGovernment and private players are increasingly tapping into this widely available medium. The Department of Agriculture& Cooperation (DAC), Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India launched Kisan Call Centers on January 21, 2004 across the country to deliver extension services to the farming community. The purpose of these call centers is to respond to issues raised by farmers, instantly, in the local language. There are call centers for every state which are expected to handle traffic from any part of the country. Queries related to agriculture and allied sectors are being addressed through these call centers. In the private sector, a good example is Bharti- IFFICOs joint venture whereby cheap mobile handsets costing less and more number of mobile values added services such as free daily voice messages on marketing prices for their produce, farming technology, weather forecasts (Agro met advisory services), dairy farming, fertilizers availability, plant protection etc. 13. Kisaan SMS Portal During celebrations 85th ICAR Foundation Day, HonblePresident of India launched on 16.07.2013 a SMS Portal for Farmers Created by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Government of India Officers, Scientists and Experts of Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Indian Council of Agriculture Research, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, India Meteorological Department and Food grain Procurement Agencies will use this portal for disseminating relevant information, giving topical & seasonal advisories and providing services through SMSs to farmers in language of the State. 14. Rural Broadband Kiosks Kisok are meant for access to basic browsing andvarious types of commercial values added services including entertainment, Information, tele-education and telemedicine. Mobile and broadband content have shown a healthydemand from villagers for Agriculture, marketing teleeducation and e-health services. 15. NeGP Launched in May 18, 2006to improve public servicedelivery The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) has been formulated by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). The Union Government approved the NeGP, comprising of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) "Make all Government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency & reliability of such services at affordable costs to realise the basic needs of the common man. 16. COMMON SERVICE CENTRE17 17. Rural Telephony Village Public Telephones (VPTs) BSNL has covered 5,77,516 villages as per census 2001 withVPT facility in the country up to 31.12.2012 out of the 5,93,601 inhabited villages. BSNL has entered into agreement with Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), DoT for provision of VPTs in 62,302 (Revised) undisputed, undisturbed, accessible and inhabited villages having population more than 100 as per Census 1991 in the country. 47 VPTs have been provided during 2012-13 (up to December, 2012). BSNL has entered into an agreement with USOF, for provisioning of VPT facility in 62,443 newly identified uncovered inhabited villages of Census 2001. 1306 VPTs have been provided during the current year up to December, 2012. 18. BHARAT NIRMAN II - Rural Teledensity A. Rural Teledensity Sl. No.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14Circle/StateANDAMAN & NICOBAR ANDHRA PRADESH ASSAM BIHAR CHHATTISGARH GUJARAT HARYANA HIMACHAL PRADESH JAMMU & KASHMIR JHARKHAND KARNATAKA KERALA MADHYA PRADESH MAHARASHTRA (including16.57 15.22 9.36 9.17 1.81 25.21 28.10 40.47 16.72 1.44 14.36 35.43 11.07Percentage of Rural Teledensity as on 28.02.2011 31.75% 33.19% 23.36% 26.41% 2.77% 45.81% 51.36% 68.68% 29.13% 2.35% 34.26% 52.65% 28.95%21.7045.25%Percentage of Rural Teledensity as on 31.03.2009 19. Continue... 1516 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28NORTH-EAST- I (comprising Meghalaya, Mizoram & Tripura) NORTH-EAST- II (comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur & Nagaland) ORISSA PUNJAB RAJASTHAN TAMIL NADU UTTARAKHAND UTTAR PRADESH - [East] UTTAR PRADESH - [West] WEST BENGAL (including Sikkim) KOLKATA CHENNAI DELHI MUMBAI14.6750.34%3.697.78%12.55 33.11 16.71 25.62 6.0428.07% 55.45% 38.14% 47.53% 9.46%10.2426.47%13.5035.22%-- 20. Telecom Service Providers 1.Public Sector:A.) Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (M.T.N.L.) for cities of Bombay & Delhi B.) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (B.S.N.L.) for the rest of India: BSNL has managed to honor obligation by providing connectivity to 90% of the rural population 21. Continue 2. Private Operators: A) Bharti Airtel: It is the largest operator and would extend its coverage to more than 4,000 towns and adjoining villages. B) Reliance Communications: It currently provides services in 4,300 towns and claims to have connected all the adjoining villages in these towns. C) Tata Tele Services Limited (TTSL ): It currently claims to have over 8% of the rural customer base. Provides Tata Indicom, Tata DoCoMo, Virgin (GSM) & Virgin (CDMA). D) Idea Cellular E) Vodafone Essar F) Aircel G) Uninor H) HFCL Infotel and others like Spice Telecom, Videocon Mobile Service, MTS India, Loop Mobile (BPL formerly), Ping Mobile, S Tel and Etisalat DB. 22. Rural Connectivity Challenge in India Fixed-line connections Fixed wireless terminals Subsidy provision Infrastructure 23. Benefits of Rural Telephony Stimulation of rural economic growth Social development and government services Distributing locally relevant information Targeting disadvantaged & marginalized groups Promoting local entrepreneurship Improving poor peoples health Strengthening education Promoting trade and e-commerce Supporting good governance Building capacity and capability Enriching culture Supporting agriculture Creating employment opportunities Reinforcing social mobilization 24. Conclusion In rural areas telecommunication provides awareness, information related to agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture as well as education. Rural development is only possible if the updated information is given to the rural people. The Indian telecom network, 556.92 million telephone connections are in urban areas and 338.59 million are in rural areas. Urban teledensity is 149.55%, whereas rural tele-density is 39.90% at the end of December 2012. The change is more visible in countries like India for the geographical penetration and adoptability of the mobile phones is very high compared to other Information and Communication technology and services. The wide penetration of mobile phones in India is fundamentally because the major constraints for the low rural tele-density have been lack of investible resources, non availability of appropriate technology combined with difficult geographical terrain and continental size of the country. 25. References Annual Report 2012-13 Department of Telecommunications Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India. Communication :Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17), Volume II, Economic Sector, Department of telecommunications, Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India http://www.dot.gov.in/reports-statistics/12th-five-year-plan Kurukshetra (2012) published by Ministry of Rural development Rogers, E. M (1971) Diffusion of innovations, New York: Free Press. Stakeholders conference On pilot project scheme for access to ICTs & ICTenabled services for persons with disabilities, September 7, 2011, Department of telecommunications, Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India www.agricoop.nic.in www.icar.org.in