BHUBANESWAR: As many as 399 villages across undivided Koraput district are without 4G mobile connectivity despite an ongoing expansion of telecom infrastructure under the Centre’s Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) programme.
Replying to a question by Koraput MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that the government has approved mobile connectivity projects to provide 4G services in uncovered villages and locations in Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada districts, all of which are scheduled areas.
According to the minister, the four districts together have 6,634 villages of which 399 are yet to receive 4G connectivity. Rayagada has the highest number of uncovered villages at 156, followed by Koraput (116), Malkangiri (116) and Nabarangpur (11). To bridge the connectivity gap, the Centre has sanctioned 1,701 telecom towers in the four districts under the Digital Bharat Nidhi scheme, formerly known as the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). Of these, 1,257 towers had been commissioned by June 30.
Koraput has 510 approved towers, of which 395 are operational. Malkangiri has 334 sanctioned towers, with 225 commissioned, while Nabarangpur has 46 operational towers out of 64 approved. In Rayagada, 591 of the 793 sanctioned towers have been commissioned, the minister said. He attributed delay in commissioning the remaining towers to several logistical and regulatory hurdles, including lack of road access to remote locations, delays in land allotment, forest and wildlife clearances and right of way permissions.
The minister said the government is implementing various DBN-funded projects to extend 4G mobile services to identified uncovered villages, including those in the tribal-dominated districts of southern Odisha, with priority being given to these scheduled areas. However, no specific timeline was indicated for achieving universal mobile broadband coverage in the region.