Parliament Question: Telecom Black Spots on National Highways

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2763 ANSWERED ON 05TH AUGUST, 2026 TELECOM BLACK SPOTS ON NATIONAL HIGHWAYS 2763. DR. SAMBIT PATRA: Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has conducted any study to detect the number of telecom black spots on national highways where mobile networks are missing and if so, the details thereof, State/UT- wise; and (b) the details of the steps taken/being taken to resolve the issue of telecom black spots on national highways? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR) (a): The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has not conducted any specific study to identify mobile coverage gaps along National Highways across the country. However, based on cases reported by the National Highways Authority of India, DoT field units have currently identified 117 blackout locations along these highways. The state-wise details are attached as Annexure-I. (b): The Government, through the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), has undertaken several mobile projects to provide coverage to uncovered villages across the country, as well as along the National Highways in the North Eastern States (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura) and the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. As part of this initiative, 333 mobile towers have been commissioned to provide mobile services along these National Highways. 1Annexure-I No. of Blackout stretches identified S.N. Name of State by DoT field units 1 Andhra Pradesh 21 2 Assam 4 3 Bihar 0 4 Chhattisgarh 0 5 Gujarat 8 6 Himachal Pradesh 3 7 Jharkhand 0 8 Karnataka 20 9 Madhya Pradesh 5 10 Maharashtra 3 11 Meghalaya 4 12 Odisha 22 13 Rajasthan 23 14 Tamil Nadu 0 15 Telangana 3 16 Uttar Pradesh 0 17 Uttarakhand 1 Total 117 ***** 2