Minister reviews mobile connectivity in Maoist-affected districts

Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the mobile connectivity issues in Left Wing Extremism (Maoist) affected districts of the country, an official statement said.

Ahir directed BSNL to expedite bandwidth upgradation in 35 worst-affected districts on priority and ensure upto 2 mbps capacity within one month, it said.

It was also decided the BSNL will conduct study of the existing mobile towers and switch over to micro-wave where optical fibre cable has reached the gram sabhas and submit its report within a month.

Out of total 2,355 mobile towers approved under the LWE Phase-I project, 2,329 mobile towers have been installed, as per the statement.

"States like Maharashtra, Odisha and Jharkhand highlighted bandwidth issue because of which they face call drops and limited connectivity. It was informed the Telecom Commission has already approved upgradation upto 2 mbps at the Phase-I satellite towers which are on VSAT at a cost of Rs 89 crores," it said.

"Stressing upon connectivity in these 35 districts, the Minister said mobile connectivity is important for the jawans to remain in touch with their families and it will also help in addressing stress related issues among the CAPF personnel."

It was informed that under the LWE Phase-II project, the Telecom Commission has approved 4,072 mobile tower locations with 2G and 4G connectivity at a cost of Rs 7,330 crores including operation cost for five years, as per the statement.

--IANS

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