Year End Review 2018: Ministry of Telecommunications

Ministry of Communications
Year End Review 2018: Ministry of Telecommunications

09 JAN 2019

• Six-fold increase in Government spending on telecommunications infrastructure and services in the country - from Rs. 9,900 crores between 2009-14, to Rs. 60,000 crores (actual + planned) between 2014-19
• Tariff reductions benefiting consumers across the country:
  

  - Average voice tariff declined by 67% - from an average per minute tariff of 51 paise in June 2014 to 11 paise in June 2018
  - Average data tariff declined by 96% - from Rs. 269 per GB in 2014, to Rs. 12 per GB in June 2018

• Restoring the trust between Government and Citizens through a smooth and transparent auction of spectrum in 2015 and 2016 - more than 1382 MHz sold, realising an upfront payment of approximately Rs. 65,000 crores
• For the spectrum auction of October, 2016, DoT received an Excellence Award from CVC in November 2017, for "Transparency in e-auction of spectrum in 2016"
• Telecom service providers now have sufficient spectrum available to offer their sevices; the regime of spectrum shortage is a thing of the past
• Under the BharatNet project, which is expected to trigger the era of Broadband in rural India, nearly 50% of the total 2.5 Lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country have been connected through high-speed OFC network by October 2018, as compared to 59 GPs in June 2014; plan to complete the remaining GPs by March 2019
• Network for Spectrum (NFS) project for Defence - project approved in July 2012; no cable laid until May 2014; 51,000 km of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) laid in the last 4 years
• Under BharatNet and NFS projects, OFC laid at a peak rate of 800 km per day, with an average of more than 200 km per day - a record of sorts
• As a result of its' role in the BharatNet project, ITI Ltd. was able to report a net profit of Rs. 102 crores (without grants) for the year 2017-18
• Proactive engagement, planning, and investment to leverage new technologies for the welfare of citizens - High-Level Forum (HLF) for 5G India set up which submitted its report in August 2018; 5G test beds established through Industry-Academia partnership and government support; 5G field trials to be conducted over the next 12 months

Highlights in Figures

• Increase in overall tele-density in the country - from 75% in June 2014 to 93% in March 2018, adding 305 million new subscribers
• Mobile Internet subscriptions more than doubled - from 233 Million in March 2014 to 491 Million in June 2018
• Over 107% increase in internet coverage - from 251 million users in June 2014 to 512 million in June 2018
• Number of mobile Base Transceiver Stations (BTS)more than doubled - from 7.9 lakh in May 2014 to more than20 lakh in May 2018
• Country-wide OFCcoverage doubled - from 7 lakh km in May 2014 to 14 lakh km in May 2018
  Average mobile data usage per subscriber grew 51 times - from 62 MB per month to 3.2 GB per month
• Cheapest data tariff globally - from Rs. 300 per GB in 2014 to Rs. 12 per GB in June 2018, tariff reduction of 96%
• Highest mobile data consumption globally at 3.4 Billion GB per month
• Seven times growth in broadband access - from 61 million subscribers in March 2014, to 447 million subscribers in June 2018
• Digital payment transactions through mobile grew four times- from 168 million in November 2016 to 600 million now
• Five times jump in FDI inflows in Telecom Sector - from USD 1.3 billion in 2015-16, to USD 6.2 billion in 2017-18
• Connecting the Unconnected areas in the country:
• Left-Wing Extremism Affected Areas - 2335 mobile towers installed in Phase I, at a total outlay of Rs. 4,781 crores; 4072 towers approved for installation in Phase II, with a total outlay of Rs. 7,330 crores
• Biggest ever Telecom Spend in the North-East Region -Ongoing projects with a total outlay of more than Rs. 10,800 crores, connecting border areas, highways, and unconnected villages
• Submarine cable connectivity to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in addition to strengthening connectivity within the islands and in Lakshadweep - at an outlay of Rs. 2,250 crores
• Extensive expansion of the Wi-Fi eco-system in rural areas,with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 crores - 25,000 hot-spots by BSNL in rural exchanges, 7,000 hot-spots (e-Choupals) by Common Service Centres (CSCs); Additional 1 million Hotspots planned by March 2019
• Key reforms to facilitate the operation of a Robust, Competitive, and Sustainable Telecom Sector:
• Spectrum sharing and trading allowed - to boost competition
• Spectrum harmonisation - resulting in freeing up spectrum for auction
• Sharing of passive (e.g., fibre, towers) and active (e.g., BTS) infrastructure
• Deferred Payment Liabilities - to reduce financial stress in the sector
• Easing of Right of Way (RoW) Rules and Charges - Ease of Doing Business
• Full mobile number portability
• Virtual Network Operators (VNO) license introduced - for effective infrastructure utilisation
  Input credit for VNO licensees allowed to ease tax burden
• The National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018 - summarises our Aspirations and Determination:
• Missions - NDCP 2018
• Connect India - Universal broadband coverage at 50 Mbps
• Propel India - Attracting investments worth USD 100 Billion
• Secure India - A strong, flexible, and robust communications infrastructure and data protection regime
• Objectives - NDCP 2018
• Providing Broadband to all by 2022
• Adding 4 million jobs in the sector
• Digital Communications sector to grow to 8% of India's GDP by 2022 (present 6%)
• To bring India tothe top 50 rank(from present 134) in the ICT Development Index of the International Telecom Union
• Net positive international trade in the sector - through increased local manufacturing and exports, and lower imports
• Ensuring Digital Sovereignty of the country

Department of Posts - Highlights and Achievements

• Average annual Speed Post revenue more than doubled - from Rs. 788 crores between 2006-14 to an average revenue of Rs. 1,682crores between 2014-18.
• Revenue of Rs. 415 Crores from the e-Commerce business in 2017-18, with a growth of more than 20% over the previous financial year
• Established a separate Parcel Directorate, in order to focus on this growing business segment; 42 parcel centres and 242 nodal delivery centres have already been established to handle increased volume of consignments
• Launched at all 650 IPPB branches co-located in District HQ Post Offices along with 1,01,173 Access Points
• IPPB will offer a 360-degree financial services suite across multiple channels - to benefit the unbanked and under-banked
• IPPB Stats (between 1st Sep 2018 and 1st Jan 2019):
• Total Accounts Opened:20.11 Lacs
• Cumulative Value of Transactions: INR 561 Crores
• Cumulative Volume of Transactions: 12.87 Lacs
• 995 DoP ATMs are now inter-operable with other Banks.
• Sukanya Samridhi Scheme: Out of total 1.52 Crores enrolments, 1.31 crores done through Post Offices
• Aadhar Enrolments & Updation Centres have been made functional in 13,352 Post Offices across the country till date; more than 8 Lakh enrolments and 29 lakh updates have already been completed in these centres
• 254 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) started across the country in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs - to provide passport services through POPSKs/PSKs in each parliamentary constituency; more than 17.5 lakh passport appointments have already been processed in these POPSKs.
• Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) - insurance products from the DoP, with the unique feature of ‘low premium, high bonus'; renewed drive to extend the benefits of these products to promote financial inclusion in the country
• Total Assets Under Management (AUM) (including GOI Special Securities/Floating Rate Bonds) in PLI and RPLI increased by 2.0 times between March 2014 and September 2018 - from Rs. 25,856 crores to Rs. 93,068 crores
• Benefits of Postal Life Insurance (PLI) are no longer limited to Government and Semi-Government employees; this facility is now also available to professionals (teachers, lawyers, engineers, doctors, CAs) and employees of listed companies of NSE and BSE
• Under SampoornaBima Gram Yojana, at least one person insured from each household in 2,529 villages nation-wide; 10,000 villages targeted by March 2019
• A philately scholarship scheme called Deen Dayal SPARSH (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude &Research in Stamps as a Hobby) Yojana was introduced in November, 2017 to promote Philately among children; under the scheme, 920 scholarships will be given every year to school-children who demonstrate interest in philately. This year as of now 83,861 students have applied under the Scholarship Scheme.
• Department of Posts has been issuing stamps on people centric themes. Some of the themes on which stamps have been issued recently are - Ramayana, Mahabharata, Indian Cuisine, Solar System, Safdarjung Hospital etc.
• Circular Postage Stamps to mark the commencement of 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi were issued by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 2nd October 2018. This is the first time in the history of Independent India that Circular Postage Stamps have been issued.
• Technology investments in the Department have increased from Rs. 434 crores between 2010-14 to about Rs. 1087 crore (upto Sep, 2018) between 2014-18.
• More than 1.29 lakh SIM based handheld devices are in use by Gramin Dak Sewaks in Branch Post Offices.
• 5.21 crore transactions have been processed successfully on National Automated Clearing House (NACH) platform since December 2016, handling more than Rs. 3,904crores
• Postman mobile application has been introduced to update the delivery information of accountable mail, including cash on delivery, on a real time basis

PIB