Parliament Question: Expansion of telecom connectivity in Bihar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4335 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02ND APRIL, 2026 EXPANSION OF TELECOM CONNECTIVITY IN BIHAR 4335 # DR. BHIM SINGH: Will the Minister of Communications be pleased to state: (a) the number of mobile towers, 4G/5G sites and Gram Panchayats connected under BharatNet project for expansion of telecom connectivity in Bihar during the last five years, along with district- wise details of current status of network coverage and internet speed in urban and rural areas; and (b) the special steps taken to improve the quality of communication services, reduce call drops and bridge the digital divide in remote, flood-affected and backward districts of the State and if the desired improvement has not been achieved, the major reasons therefor along with the time-bound action plan proposed for the same? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR) (a): At present, 1,57,093 mobile Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) are installed in the State of Bihar, out of which 30,055 4G BTS and 28,387 5G BTS have been installed during the last five years. Additionally, at present, 8,340 Gram Panchayats in the State have been made service-ready under the BharatNet Project including 47 GPs made service-ready during last 5 years. District-wise details of the current status of mobile network coverage in urban and rural areas are attached as Annexure-I. As per performance monitoring report published by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the month of February 2026, details of download and upload speed for Bihar License Service Area is as under: Measured Upload S. Measured Download Speed Telecom Service Provider Speed (in Megabits No. (in Megabits per second) per second) 1 Bharti Airtel Limited 133 32 2 BSNL 7.4 4.5 3 Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited 264.88 43.26 4 Vodafone Idea Limited 65.78 36.23 (b): Government has taken several measures to enhance mobile network infrastructure and improve the quality of communication services including call drops and to bridge the divide in the country: i. Uncovered villages are being provided coverage under various Digital Bharat Nidhi schemes. ii. Assignment of sufficient spectrum for mobile services through auction. 1iii. Spectrum sharing, trading and surrender has been permitted for efficient use of spectrum. iv. Simplification of Procedure for SACFA (Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocations) clearance. v. Notification of Telecommunications Right of Way (RoW) Rules and launch of PM GatiShakti Sanchar portal has resulted in streamlining of RoW permissions and expeditious clearance for installation of telecom infrastructure. vi. TRAI has revised Quality of Service benchmarks on 02.08.2024 applicable from 01.10.2024 for various parameters, and performance of service providers against the benchmark is regularly monitored by TRAI to ensure better quality of services. Further, under Digital Bharat Nidhi funded 4G Mobile Saturation Project, 383 number of 4G mobile towers have been made on-air in the State of Bihar since 2021. 2Annexure-I Rural Areas S.N. District Name Total Villages Villages covered with mobile services 1 Araria 742 742 2 Arwal 316 316 3 Aurangabad 1849 1848 4 Banka 2111 2110 5 Begusarai 1146 1146 6 Bhagalpur 1520 1520 7 Bhojpur 1217 1216 8 Buxar 1134 1134 9 Darbhanga 1249 1249 10 Gaya 2887 2882 11 Gopalganj 1535 1534 12 Jamui 1506 1495 13 Jehanabad 584 584 14 Kaimur (Bhabua) 1692 1684 15 Katihar 1534 1534 16 Khagaria 301 301 17 Kishanganj 771 771 18 Lakhisarai 472 471 19 Madhepura 440 440 20 Madhubani 1111 1111 21 Munger 862 858 22 Muzaffarpur 1790 1790 23 Nalanda 1050 1049 24 Nawada 1091 1087 25 Pashchim Champaran 1485 1471 26 Patna 1405 1405 27 Purba Champaran 1296 1296 28 Purnia 1273 1273 29 Rohtas 2072 2068 30 Saharsa 467 467 31 Samastipur 1250 1250 32 Saran 1732 1732 33 Sheikhpura 314 314 34 Sheohar 203 203 35 Sitamarhi 836 836 36 Siwan 1530 1530 37 Supaul 551 551 38 Vaishali 1564 1564 Grand Total 44,888 44,832 All urban areas are covered with mobile services. *** 3