TERM PAPER

FOR SOCIAL MARKETING COURSE

PGPPM 2013-15
TITLE
A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSL SERVICE
OBLIGATION SCHEME IN THE INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR

BY
G V RAMANA RAO, PGPPM-1313016
V SURENDRAN,

PGPPM-1313020

UNDER
PROFESSOR MITHILESWAR JHA

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to gratefully acknowledge the support extended by the staff of the USO section of
Department of Telecom, Sanchar Bhavan, New Delhi who have patiently answered all our
queries and provided us with a detailed understanding of the processes of implementing the USO
schemes that has enabled us to take up this socially important topic. Also we would like to thank
Prof. Mithileswar Jha, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore for approving the case of
study of implementation of USO scheme in the Indian Telecom Sector as the topic for the term
paper under Social Marketing.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Inclusive growth was one of the most important stated objectives of Telecom policies
since its inception in 1994. Keeping in mind the inadequacy of the market mechanism to serve
rural and inaccessible areas on one hand and the importance of providing vital telecom
connectivity on the other, the New Telecom Policy - 1999 provided that the resources for
meeting the Universal Service Obligation (USO) would be raised through a Universal Access
Levy (UAL), which would be a percentage of the revenue earned by the operators under various
licenses. The Universal Service Support Policy came into effect from 01.04.2002 through an
amendment of the Indian Telegraph Act, in 2003 giving statutory status to the Universal Service
Obligation Fund (USOF) and the Fund is to be utilized exclusively for meeting the Universal
Service Obligation.
Initially, the USOF Administration was permitted to provide public access and individual
access to "basic" service facilities only. Keeping in view the extraordinary urban mobile
revolution in India the Indian Telegraph Act was amended in 2006 to enable the USOF to support
mobile services also and broadband connectivity in rural and remote areas. Also it was decided to
use the fund for the creation of General Infrastructure for development of Telecommunication
facilities and induction of new technological developments in the telecom sector.
In spite of such policy initiatives, the disparity in telecom growth between urban and
rural areas was increasing. At the same time a huge sum of about Rs 50,600 Cr. has been
collected from the telecom service providers as UAL from 2002-03 to 2012-13, where as the
utilization of the fund is only about Rs 28,000 Cr., out of which a major share of about Rs 7,000
Cr. was given to the state owned BSNL for reimbursement of license fee and spectrum charges
for rural operations. Continued collection of the USO fund from service providers, without
effectively utilizing available funds, prevents even the service providers reinvesting this share of
revenue in rural sectors in meeting the same objective. Hence there is an urgency for
intervention.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sl No.
i.
ii.
iii.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Description
Title of the Term Paper
Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
Telecom Growth and Increasing Digital Divide
Framework of USO Administration
Shortcomings in the implementation of USO Schemes
Suitable Measures for improvement
Tables from I to VIII
References

List of Tables
1. Table-I: Summary of Village Public Telephones (VPTs)
as on 31.05.2013

Page No.
1
2
3
6
10
18
21
23
36

Page No.
23

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2. Table-IA: VPTs provided under Bharat Nirman-I

as on 31.05.2013

24

3. Table-IB: VPTs provided under New VPT schemes

(census:2001) as on 31.05.2013

25

4. Table-II: Status of Replacement of MARR VPTs

as on 31.05.2013

26

5. Table-III: Circle wise progress of RCPs

up to 31.05.2010

27

6. Table-IV: Operator wise no. of SDCAs where

RDELs are to provided

28

7. Table-V: Status of RDELs provided

as on 31.05.2010

29

8. Table-VIA: Commissioning status of Towers (State-wise)

as on 31.05.2013 in rural & remote areas for provision
of mobile services

30

9. Table VI-B: Commissioning status of Towers (IP-wise)

as on 31.05.2013 in rural & remote areas for provision
of Mobile Services

31

10. Table VIIA Broadband connections provided by BSNL

under USOF plans up to April 2012.

31

11. Table VII B: Installation report of BB Kiosk in rural

areas under USOF agreement for April -12

33

12. Table VII C PCs installation report up to April 2012

under PCs bundling scheme

34

13. Table-VIII: USO Fund Status

35

1. TELECOM GROWTH AND INCREASING DIGITAL DIVIDE

The very first Telecom policy of this country in 1994 was an aftermath of economic
liberalization taking place in this country since early 90s. The realization that telecom facility is
one of the important infrastructure required for the growth of the economy prompted to come out
with definite policies in this regard. The first two objectives stipulated were

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1.

The focus of the Telecom Policy shall be telecommunication for all and
telecommunication within the reach of all. This means ensuring the availability of
telephone on demand as early as possible.
2. Another objective will be to achieve universal service covering all villages as early as
possible. What is meant by the expression universal service is the provision of access
to all people for certain basic telecom services at affordable and reasonable prices.
As can be seen, the concept of Universal Service Obligation ( USO ) was clearly spelt
out as one of the primary goals. It was observed that the Tele-density in India at that time was 0.8
per 100 population when world average was about 10. The number of lines working was just 8
million and the waiting was over 2.5 million. The Policy fixed a target of making telephone
available on demand covering all villages by 1997.
The developments in the sector was far from satisfactory and Government was forced to
come out with its next Telecom Policy NTP1999. In the review of the policy it was mentioned
that only 3.1 lakh out of 6 lakh villages only could be covered with telecom facilities and the
rural teledensity was just 0.4 while total teledensity was 1.56. The policy reiterated its
commitment to provide telecom facility on demand covering all villages and the time frame was
re fixed as 2002. It also fixed target for achieving a teledensity of 7 by 2005 and 15 by 2010. For
ensuring universal Service Obligation it also provided for establishing a fund for this purpose
taking a universal access levy from all Service Providers.
As can be seen from the table below, even though the targets with respect to the Telecom
Policy 1999 has been achieved both in case of rural and urban teledensities, the disparity in
absolute terms is increasing from time to time which is a matter of concern especially in view of
the objective of balance and inclusive growth.

Year

Rural

Urban

Total

1997

0.34

4.76

1.56

1999

0.52

5.78

1.94

2002

1.21

12.2

4.29

2005

1.73

26.88

8.95
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2006

2.34

38.28

12.74

2010

24.56

122

53.46

2012

39.26

169.17

78.66

The Bar chart given below will give further disparity in telecom growth with respect to
geography. The variation is from 46 % in most backward area like Bihar to 219 % in Delhi. The
other more worrying factor is that the growth statistics given in Bar chart given below shows that
the under developed areas like Bihar, Assam, J&K etc, the growth is negative. It means it is not
showing any signs of improvement
Even more worse is the report that more than 57000 villages are yet to be covered with
telecom facilities even today. This is the fate of normal telephony. The situation of Broadband is
still bad. All these confirms that the digital divide issue is critically serious and some serious
action to be taken in this regard.

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The exponential growth of telecom sector from 2002 onwards can be attributed to the
contribution of private sector. Understandably, their primary objective being profit, the urban
telephony got a boost and surpassed all targets much ahead of time. Even though there is a
rollout obligation for the Private Telecom Service Providers in the licensing condition, it is not
effective. It stipulates that the Service Provider should cover at least 10% of the District
Headquarters in the first year and 50% of the District headquarters in 3 years. Even this
condition was further modified through clarifications issued by the department that for the
purpose of rollout obligation they can cover any municipal town in the District. An analysis of
the list of towns offered by the Service Provider will reveal that most of them have offered the
same set of towns, being the smallest and compact one in a given district. It is also observed that
the percentage of population covered by them is no way near 10% or 50% of the total population
of the Service Area and most of them have selected the same set of station due to the
convenience of the service providers for meeting the targets set by the licensor. As can be seen,
there is no compulsion or incentive for them to go far interior to a remotely located village.
The statistics and trend of Average Revenue Per Minute and minutes of use of Indian Mobile
customers furnished below are supportive of the claim by the Service Providers that they are not
able to break even.

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Under such circumstances it will be impossible to make the Service Providers to serve
unprofitable areas. Hence it becomes all the more important that Government has to comes out
with some effective mechanism to ensure equitable growth of the sector as envisaged in its
policies.
In such a scenario, the government has put in place the concept of Universal Service
Obligation Fund to support the service providers to launch the services in rural pockets which are
highly backward and remote where the service provision is not commercially viable otherwise.

2. FRAMEWORK OF USO ADMINISTRATION

The resources for meeting the Universal Service Obligation (USO) were to be generated
through a Universal Service Levy(USL), at a rate of 5% of the adjusted gross revenue earned by
the operators holding different type of licenses. Further, NTP '99 envisaged implementation of
Universal Service Obligation for rural and remote areas through all Basic Service providers who
were to be reimbursed from the funds collected by way of USL. Other service providers were
also to be allowed to participate in USO provisioning subject to technical feasibility and were to
be similarly reimbursed out of the funds of USL
The Universal Service Support Policy(USSP) has come into effect from 1.4. 2002 with
the appointment of an Administrator, in the rank of Secretary to Govt. of India, exclusively on
fulltime basis for the implementation of Universal Service Support Policy. The USO Fund
Administrator is assisted by around 22 Controllers of Communication Accounts (CCA) spread
across the country in different Telecom Service Areas. These field units of the Department of
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Telecom (DOT) have been delegated the functions of subsidy disbursement and verification of
subsidy claims. They assist the USOF Administration in monitoring of the field level
implementation of USOF Agreements. They also liaise with state and local government
authorities in this regard.
The scope of support from the Universal Obligation Service Fund is to the extent of
giving financial support to meet the net cost of providing the specified universal service
obligation as per the procedure specified by the Administrator from time to time, and the period
for which support shall be provided and the services covered shall be governed by an agreement
entered into with the universal service provider.
An inter-ministerial group consisting of senior officers from different ministries has been
constituted for periodic reviewing of the functioning of the USO schemes and policies and
suggest suitable changes to be made from time to time in sync with the changing economic and
technical environments.
The USO Fund Administrator shall be responsible for

Implementation of the guidelines laid down by Government for providing Universal

Service Support
Suggesting such changes in policy as may be deemed necessary for implementation of
Universal Service Support
Forecasting the requirement of Universal Service Funds for each financial year and
obtaining approval of Government through Department of Telecom
Ensuring that the prescribed Universal Service Levy is credited to the appropriate
Universal Service Fund on a regular basis

In the implementation of the Universal Service Support Policy, the Administrator shall

Formulate benchmark costs

Finalize bidding procedures/processes including relevant terms and conditions for this
purpose.
Constitute of appropriate evaluation and approval Committees for recommending
successful bidders
Issue LOI to the successful bidder and finalizing contracts/ agreements
Settle claims of eligible service providers after due verification and make disbursements
accordingly from USO Fund. Specify relevant formats, procedures and financial data
records to be maintained and furnished by the various service providers
Evolve a mechanism for monitoring the performance of the successful bidders with
reference to implementation of the contracts finalized with them

Streams of Services identified for USO Support:

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The following streams of activities have been identified for the USO funding.

Stream-I: Provision of Public Access Service (Schemes on VPTs and RCPs)

Stream-II: Provision of Household Telephones in Rural and Remote Areas (RDELs)
Stream-III: Scheme on Creation of Infrastructure for provision of Mobile Services in
Rural and Remote Areas. (Mobile Infrastructure Phase I)
Stream-IV: Provision of Broadband Connectivity to rural & remote areas in a phased
manner (Wire Line Broadband, WLBB, Rural Public Service Terminals, RPST)
Stream-V: Creation of General Infrastructure in Rural and Remote Areas for
Development of Telecom facilities. (Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) for Assam)
Stream-VI: Induction of new technological developments in the telecom sector in Rural
and Remote Pilot projects to establish new technological developments in the telecom
sector. (Ex: Solar Mobile Charging Facility, SMCF).

The framework for the implementation of these various streams of services is through the
established practice of inviting tenders from the established telecom service providers, finalizing
them, fixing the targets, verifying the achievements, and finally scrutiny and settlement of the
USO subsidy claims. The outcome of the above initiatives has resulted into an era of
communication revolution in the far-flung, in-accessible and hostile terrains of backward rural
areas, which people have never imagined and otherwise also not possible without the sort of
incentive in the form USO subsidy for the service providers. The details of various schemes in
operation and their implementation status as follows:

Stream I
Public Access:
provision of public access facilities by way of Village Public Telephones (VPTs) and
Rural Community Phones (RCPs). Every 1991 Census Revenue village with a
population of more than 2000 and no existing PCO is to be provided with an additional
public telephone by way of a RCP.
1)

Village Public Telephones

Existing VPTs

Agreements were signed with M/s BSNL and six Private Basic Service Operators
(PBSOs) in March 2003 for providing subsidy support for maintenance of existing VPTs
in the identified revenue villages as per Census 1991. In addition, subsidy support is also
admissible for the VPTs installed in additional revenue villages as per census 2001.
About 96% of the eligible Census 2001 inhabited revenue villages are already covered
with Village Public Telephones (VPTs). This includes the VPTs provided under Bharat
Nirman program also.
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The achievements of VPTs in various states is given in the Table-1. From the table, it is
evident that about 97.75% of the identified villages have been provided with VPTs.

New VPTs

(a) As per Census 1991, 66822 no. of uncovered villages are to be provided with VPTs
and Agreements were signed with M/s BSNL in November 2004 to provide the subsidy
support for this provision. Subsidy support in the form of Capital and Operational
expenses will be provided for provision of these VPTs for a period of five years from the
date of installation of the VPTs. Out of these, 14183 remotely located villages were to be
provided VPTs through Digital Satellite Phone Terminals (DSPTs) as per the agreements
signed. Some of the VPTs, which were initially proposed to be provided on DSPTs, are
also being provided through the Wireless coverage now available in these villages on
account of network expansion. The VPTs were to be provided in phases covering 20%,
40% and 40% respectively over a period of three years. Targets and achievements for the
new VPTs in uncovered villages is given in Table-1A. From the data it is clear that
the actual target provision of VPTs is 62302 out of which DSPTs achievement is a little
over 20% and the major portion being provided with wire- line, and the total
achievement is 99.67%.
(b) As per Census 2001, there are about another 62,443 uncovered villages, which are yet
to be provided with VPT facility. Such uncovered villages shall also be provided with
VPT facility with subsidy support from USOF. Agreements in this regard have been
signed with BSNL on 27.02.2009
The targets and achievements are given in Table-1B. The data given in the table shows
that the achievement is about 85.6%.
(ii) Rural Community Phones (RCPs)
46,253 villages with population exceeding 2,000 and without a Public phone facility are
being provided with a Rural Community Phone (RCP). Agreements were signed with
M/s BSNL and M/s RIL in September 2004 to provide 24,822 and 21,431 RCPs
respectively in these villages over a period of three years i.e. by 30.09.2007. These
installations are eligible for both Capital and Operational expenses. The number of RCPs
to be provided has subsequently been revised as 40694 [BSNL: 21958, RIL: 18736].
The targets and achievements for RCP are given Table-III and the achievement is
87.98%

Stream-II
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Individual Access:
A subsidy support is being provided for a limited duration of three years for wire line
RDELs installed prior to 1.4.02 w.e.f 18 July 2008. Subsidy is being provided for 1.86
million RDELs already installed between 1.4.02 and 31.3.05 in 1685 net cost positive
Short Distance Charging Areas (SDCAs) Subsidy support is also being extended to
RDELs installed between 1.4.05 and 31.3.07 in 1685 net cost positive SDCAs. By
31.3.07, about 2.56 million RDELs had been provided under this scheme. Period of
installation of RDELs under this scheme now stands extended up to 31.3.2010. The status
of the scheme is furnished below:

RDELS (1.4.2002 to 31.3.2005):

Support is also being extended for 18.65 lakhs rural lines installed between 01.04.2002
and 31.03.2005 at the same rates as applicable for the RDELs above. Agreements to this
effect were signed with M/s BSNL and M/s RIL in May 2005 & August 2005. The
equated annual subsidy is to be given for a maximum period of five years from the date
of installation of these RDELs. One time front loaded subsidy is payable only for net
addition of rural household DELs.

RDELS:(From 1.4.2005 to 31.3.2007)

Agreements were signed with M/s BSNL, M/s RIL, M/s TTL and M/s TTL (MH) in
March 2005 for installation of Rural Household Direct Exchange Lines (RDELs) to be
installed during the period 01.04.2005 to 31.03.2007. These RDELs were to be installed
in 1685 Short Distance Charging Areas (SDCAs) [BSNL: 1267, RIL: 203, TTSL: 172,
TTML: 43] where cost of providing telephone connections is more than the revenue
earned. Support in the form of front loaded subsidy is being given for all the lines
(RDELs) installed from 01.04.2005 to 31.03.2007. The equated annual subsidy where
payable, shall be given up to a maximum period of validity of the Agreement (Five years)
and validity period ends in March, 2010. Subsequently the cutoff date for installation of
the RDELs was extended to 31.3.2010.
The details of SDCAs where RDELs are to be provided are given in Table-IV and the
achievements of RDELs is given in Table-V. From the table it is evident that about 8
million rural household lines were given at reduced tariffs under the support of USO
funding.
Replacement of MARR based VPTs:
1,86,872 no. of VPTs which were earlier working on Multi Access Radio Relay (MARR)
technology and installed before 01.04.2002 are to be replaced by reliable technology
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equipment as most of these were non functional. Both capital and operational expenses
are to be supported for this activity. The number of MARR VPTs to be replaced has
subsequently been revised as 1,85,121. The targets and achievements for the replacement
of MARR based VPTs is given in Table-II, which shows that the achievement is about
99.82%

Stream III
Infrastructure support for Mobile Services:
Under this initiative, about 7436 mobile infrastructure sites spread across 500 districts
and 27 states of India are being rolled out. This scheme will provide mobile services to
about 0.2 million villages which were hitherto deprived of the same. It is a unique
initiative as it is based on sharing of subsidized passive infrastructure (tower, boundary
wall, electric connection, power backup, security cabin etc) by three telecom service
providers who will put up their own subsidized active infrastructure (Base Transmission
system. Antenna, Backhaul) and roll out wireless services(Mobile Infrastructure PhaseI). It is also proposed to shortly roll out the second phase of the scheme whereby about
10,000 towers shall be set up with USOF support to cover uncovered villages/cluster of
villages having population of more than 5000 or more with mobile services
The agreements effective from 01.06.2007 have been signed with the successful bidders
in May 2007. The State-wise number of towers to be set up under this scheme and the
towers commissioned are given in Table-VI-A and VI-B and the overall achievement is
about 99.4%

Stream IV
Scheme for Providing Broadband connectivity in rural areas: The scheme envisages
leveraging existing telecom infrastructure (wireless, landline and satellite) to provide
broadband connectivity in rural and remote areas. Schools, Common Service Centers,
Primary Health Centers, Panchayats etc. and individuals in rural areas will benefit from
the scheme
Rural Broadband Scheme:
Agreement has been signed with BSNL on 20.01.09 to provide 8,61,459 wire-line
Broadband connections to individual users and Government Institutions from 27,789
DSLAMs, installed at existing rural and remote exchanges over a period of 5-years, i.e.,
by 2014.
Status of implementation of Broadband Agreement is given in Table-VII(A), VII(B) and
VII(C). From the data it is evident that the achievement over a period of about two and
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half years is 41.9% and the remaining is to be achieved by 31.3.1014. It is to be noted so

far there are no private service providers in this scheme, even though all the Service
Providers, with valid license from DoT for BSO/UASL, are eligible to apply for the
Scheme. Such Service Providers shall have outdoor copper cable network from their
existing serving exchange in the rural and remote areas with back-haul & backbone
connectivity on OFC.

Stream V

Scheme for augmenting the Optical Fiber Scheme network for connecting to
Block headquarters. To provide adequate back haul for voice and data traffic in rural
areas, USOF proposes to subsidize the augmentation /creation of the required rural
OFC network capacity. To begin with it has been decided to improve the OFC
network between the Block HQs and the District HQs.

Scheme for Intra-District OFC Connectivity in Assam: The Service Area of Assam
has been taken up first and an Agreement has been signed with the selected USP i.e.
BSNL in February 2010. As per this Agreement, BSNL shall share the subsidized
intra-district OFC bandwidth capacity with other service providers at the prescribed
discounted rates. It is expected that the availability of high capacity backhaul at
discounted rates would greatly encourage the growth of voice and data services in the
region.

Stream VI

Pilot Project Scheme: A scheme to induct new technologies on pilot basis has been
launched. Subsidy will be provided to demonstrate new technology through pilot
projects in areas of broadband, fixed/wireless telephony, transmission media, hybrid
power, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) etc. It will be a tripartite effort amongst
the technology provider, Telecom Service provider (TSP) and USOF Administration.
The project must function for at least three months for proper impact assessment.
Project results are to be certified by TEC/CDOT/IIT. A seminar will be held to share
and disseminate results. The upper limit of USOF assistance per project is Rs.
0.5Million.

Provision of Solar Chargers for CDMA FWT VPTs : All new FWT based VPTs
being supported by USOF are to be provided with solar chargers. Also, under joint
MNRE and USOF support, about 50,000 existing Code Division Multiple Access
Fixed Wireless Terminal (CDMA FWT) based VPTs are being provided with

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subsidized solar chargers with the aim of ensuring their sustained and effective
functioning.

Pilot Projects to establish the Viability of Powering of Shared Mobile

Infrastructure Sites in Rural Areas through Solar/Solar-Wind Hybrid
Installations : Subsidy support from MNRE and USOF shall be provided towards
solar/solar-wind hybrid power installations in USOFs shared mobile infrastructure
sites (one in each state). The results obtained from these 28 sites will help establish
technical feasibility and financial viability of utilization of renewable energy in
shared mobile sites in rural areas.

Pilot Project for Establishment of Rural Solar Mobile Charging Facilities

(SMCFs) :- Support shall be provided for rural solar mobile charging stations in 5000
villages through TERIs Lighting a Billion Lives (LaBL) project. The SMCFs shall be
run by village entrepreneurs who shall recover nominal fees from the rural public
towards charging of mobile phones.

3. SHORTCOMINGS IN THE IMPELEMENTATION OF USO

SCHEMES
The USO Fund status is given in Table VIII. From the data, it is clear that a huge of sum
of about Rs 50,600 Cr. has been collected from the telecom service providers as UAL
from 2002-03 to 2012-13, where as the utilization of the fund is only about Rs 28,000
Cr., out of which a major share of about Rs 7,000 Cr. was given to the state owned
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BSNL for reimbursement of license fee and spectrum charges for rural operations. New
Telecom Policy, 2012 envisages increase in rural teledensity to 70% by 2017 and 100%
by 2020.
Inadequacies in the existing systems /schemes are evident from the fact that there are
57000 villages which are yet to be covered with basic telecom facility even after 9 years
of existence of USO fund organization, having nearly 50% of the funds unutilized and
urban growth touching 169%. This probably indicate that the organization is not fully
successful in accomplishing the task of reducing / eliminating digital divide. Even though
some of the schemes launched are successfully completed, it has not succeeded in
bridging the gap, rather it is increasing in absolute terms. As can be seen most of the
projects are being entrusted with BSNL and the private service providers could not be
roped in, in a big way, even though more than 85% of the telecom market share is with
them. This points towards the fact that the projects launched are not remunerative to
make Private Service Providers willingly get involved. At the same time the provisions of
licensing are not adequate enough to make the service providers meet this Universal
Service Obligation objective. An analysis of some of the important existing schemes will
give better clarity about the issue and will lead us to better solutions.
Rural DELs
The Support schemes are available only of RDEL provided during a particular period in
selected Rural areas. That too for net connections provided. Any connection provided,
irrespective of the period provision, the Service Provider has to incur the same
expenditure for providing the same. Hence restricting subsidy for certain period is not
logical. Moreover, generally, the new connections in such areas will come from far flung
areas, so far not covered. Hence restriction of subsidy only for net connections also will
not be in the true spirit for which the subsidy is extended. The criteria for providing
subsidy for RDELs are to be made more rational.
Mobile Infrastructure
This is one of the major steps taken by USO Fund Organization ( USOFO )has taken in
ensuring universal service in this country. As per the statistics given by USOFO the
project has been completed successfully achieving 99.4% of the target set. But this need
to be seen in various other perspectives.
a) The agreements under this project were in effect from 2007. Subsidy was payable or a
maximum period of 5 years from the date of commissioning of the site, within the
period of validity of the scheme, i.e. six and half years from the date of effect of the
agreement. Gestation period is too long even without considering the processing time
till the date of effect of the agreements.
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b) Number of villages covered through this scheme is not known. The impact of the
scheme with respect to improvement in teledensity is not quantified to assess the
actual success of the scheme.
c) Second Phase covering 10,000 towers is yet to take off even after 6 years of
launching of Phase 1 when 57000 villages are yet to be covered with telecom facility.
d) Many of the towers commissioned are not working satisfactorily and not extending
the expected service to the customers. It is to be noted that customer will avail the
connection only if they find some utility of the same. Hence it is very important that
the service extended is satisfactory.
Disbursement of Funds: As can be seen from Table 8, there is no improvement in the
disbursement of subsidy even in the recent years. The disbursement of funds in the year
2011-12 is just 25% compared to the overall disbursement of 45%.
USOFO Structure for monitoring
USOFO is having centralized organizational structure supported by the Controller of
Communication Accounts ( CCA ) in the field. The monitoring of progress of works is
seen only as part of disbursement of subsidy by this group of Finance officers. There is
no proper mechanism to check the progress of works at various stages and also for
ensuring proper functioning of facilities already created.
Quality of Service provided by USOF projects
Whether it is village PT or the mobile infrastructure provided by the Service Provider, the
quality of service provided is not being monitored on a real time basis. As already
mentioned the inspections are happening as a part of verification of the claims submitted
by the Service Providers. Complaints and servicing is maintained by the Service Provider
who is extending the service with subsidy. Naturally there is enough scope for
manipulation and this leads to poor quality of service extended to the customers. There is
no provision escalating the complaint outside the channel of escalation extended by the
Service Provider

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4. SUITABLE MEASURES FOR IMPROVEMENT

Universal Service From the pattern of utilization of USO fund it is clear that USOFO is not able to
effectively utilize the fund available with it in an effective manner with the existing
method of operation. As already pointed out USOFO is having a very thin structure
centralized at DoT HQ and the rest is only a wing of finance officers to manage the
subsidy disbursement. In view of this, it is strongly felt that USOFO should come out of
the unproductive work of tender processing and evolve a mechanism which is Service
Provider driven.
(a) Through rollout obligation path - The scope of rollout obligation is to be expanded for
this purpose and it should be made obligatory for the Service Providers to ensure
coverage in villages specified by the Licensor. Identified uncovered villages in the LSA
are to be divided among the existing Service Providers on the basis of some specified
criteria ( say revenue ) and the Service Provider concerned to be given subsidy to the
extent of differential cost, the unrecovered portion of cost of providing service in such
areas. Differential cost is to be derived using some scientific methods. Other Service
Providers in the LSA are to be allowed to share the infrastructure, including the backhaul
connectivity at subsidized rates as specified by the TRAI / Licensor. Subsidy to be
disbursed only on ensuring spreading of network and quality of service. Non compliance
of Rollout obligation to be contained using heavy penalty structure including cancellation
of license, in extreme cases.
(b) Through BSNL It is a known fact that reaching at break even for the service provided
in remote villages will have a long gestation period. Naturally, Private Service Providers
can be forced to give service only making them sacrifice some of the revenue they earned
from operating in Urban areas. For the same reason there will be resistance from them all
the time. Instead, it will be better if the work is allotted to the State owned Service
Page | 19

Provider BSNL which is already having a nationwide network and infrastructure.

Scientifically estimated subsidy to be given to BSNL with conditions of sparing the
infrastructure to other Service Providers at the rates specified by TRAI / Licensor.
Quality of Service
The service provided with subsidy should have a different mechanism of servicing and
the same should be under the control of the Licensor / USOFO. The complaints booked in
this centralized system can be passed over to the concerned Service Provider for
immediate action and reporting back. In addition to normal escalations within the system
of Service Provider, there should be mechanisms to escalate the same with the Licensor /
USOFO whoever is responsible for its maintenance. This will naturally take care of the
issue of Service Quality. Quality fo service can be further ensured through open houses,
adalaths, inspections etc by the concerned authority.
Procedure for re-imbursement of subsidy
As already pointed out the verification about the provision of service is done at the time
of re-imbursement of subsidy. Precisely for the same reason, the kind of report to be
submitted by the Service Provider is quite voluminous. The process of submission of the
claim is a laborious activity for the Service Provider and CCA offices alike. Having a
mechanism as specified above for ensuring quality of service, the subsidy payment can be
done on getting a report regarding successful compliance of conditions of operation from
the concerned agency. This will make subsidy disbursement very simple and quick.
USOFO structure for monitoring
Engineering wings of the Licensor in the form Telecom Enforcement Resource and
Monitoring ( TERM ) cells are already available in all LSAs. The work of monitoring the
progress of USO funded projects to be entrusted to them with sufficiently augmenting the
existing units.
Conclusion
The capacity of Service Providers of this country is a proven one with the kind of growth
of telecom sector surpassing almost all targets set. Regulator could really bring in
revolution in telecom sector. Now what is required is a bit of fine tuning in a logical way,
taking Service Providers into confidence and facilitating them using the funds available
in hand. The structural change in the disbursement procedure will definitely make this
feasible. This will benefit the Service Providers and the customers alike.

Page | 20

Table I Summary of Village Public Telephones (VPTs) as on 31.05.2013

Sl.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

Name of the
Telecom Service
Area/ State
ANDAMAN &
NICOBAR
ANDHRA PRADESH
ASSAM
BIHAR
JHARKHAND
GUJARAT
HARYANA
HIMACHAL
PRADESH
JAMMU &
KASHMIR
KARNATAKA
KERALA
MADHYA PRADESH
CHATTISGARH
MAHARASHTRA
MEGHALAYA
MIZORAM
TRIPURA
ARUNACHAL
PRADESH
MANIPUR
NAGALAND
ODISHA
PUNJAB
RAJASTHAN
TAMILNADU
CHENNAI METRO
CITY
UTTAR PRADESH
(EAST)
UTTAR PRADESH
(WEST)
UTTARAKHAND
WEST BENGAL
CALCUTTA METRO
CITY
SIKKIM
TOTAL

No. of Inhabited
Villages as per
Census 2001

Village Public
Telephones
provided by
BSNL

501

352

26613
25124
39032
29354
18159
6764

24260
24688
38941
28807
16260
6678

17495

17408

6417

6384

27481
1372
52117
19744
41442
5782
707
858

27449
1372
51986
18214
39776
5247
704
858

3863

2774

2315
1278
47529
12301
39753
13837

1263
2171
45215
12065
38996
13837

1655

1655

74161

74145

23781

23667

15761
37062

15366
36481

893

613

450
593,601

429
578,061

Village Public
Telephones
provided by
Private
Operators
0
845

Total Village
Public
Telephones
provided

352
25105
24688
38941
28807
18051
6678

17408

0
0
0
0
0
878
0
0
0

6384
27449
1372
51986
18214
40654
5247
704
858

0
0
0
0
0
572
0

2774
1263
2171
45215
12065
39568
13837

1655

74145

0
0
0

23667
15366
36481

0
0
4,086

613
429
582,147

0
0
0
1791

Table 1A: VPTs provided under Bharat Nirman-I as on 31.05.2013

Page | 21

Sl.
No.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
A
15
B
15
C
16
A
16
B
16
C
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Name of the
Telecom Service
Area/ State

Number of
villages
targetted to be
provided with
VPTs under
Bharat Nirman-I

VPTs
provided
on
Satellite
Technolog
y

VPTs
provided
on NonSatellite
Technolog
y

Total VPTs
provided till
31.08.2012 i.e. till
closure of rollout
period of Bharat
Nirman-I scheme

Andaman &
Nicobar
Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Jharkhand
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Chhattisgarh
Maharasthra

675
8775
0
1564
4097
0
1000
1753
0
0
11854
3509
6275

0
0
0
0
25
0
36
176
0
0
20
120
198

675
8775
0
1564
4072
0
964
1572
0
0
11834
3389
6072

675
8775
0
1564
4097
0
1000
1748
0
0
11854
3509
6270

Meghalaya (NE-I)

1504

545

818

1363

Mizoram (NE-I)

93

43

50

93

Tripura (NE-I)

75

75

75

Arunachal Pradesh
(NE-II)

646

333

313

646

Manipur (NE-II)

861

314

547

861

Nagaland (NE-II)

28

27

28

4122
0
11924
0

978
0
52
0

3144
0
11869
0

4122
0
11921
0

3547
0
62302

914
0
3755

2586
0
58346

3500
0
62101

Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh
(East)
Uttar Pradesh
(West)
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Total

Table 1B: VPTs provided under New VPT scheme (census 2001) as on 31.05.2013
Page | 22

S.No.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15A
15B
15C
16A
16B
16C
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

Name of the Service

Area

Andaman & Nicobar

Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Jharkhand
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Chhattisgarh
Maharasthra
Meghalaya (NE-I)
Mizoram (NE-I)
Tripura (NE-I)
Arunachal Pradesh
(NE-II)
Manipur (NE-II)
Nagaland (NE-II)
Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh (East)
Uttar Pradesh (West)
Uttarakhand
West Bengal (WB)
Sikkim (WB)
TOTAL

Number of
villages targeted
to be covered with
VPTs under the
New VPT Scheme

VPTs
provided
on Satellite
Technolog
y

VPTs
provided
on NonSatellite
Technology

Total
VPTs
provide
d

321
5871
2067
2412
2607
3125
395
1399
388
1056
0
2172
994
5851
1944
23
136

0
0
19
16
3
23
0
9
8
0
0
0
70
0
46
0
0

172
3533
1758
2312
2149
1184
259
1333
428
1024
0
3348
849
4146
1830
22
136

172
3533
1777
2328
2152
1207
259
1342
436
1024
0
3348
919
4146
1876
22
136

2431

37

318
161
5803
301
4903
682
6536
1481
1964
6937
165
62443

0
0
2
0
22
0
6
0
22
16
0
299

1342
146
159
4133
65
4251
682
6458
1382
1701
6076
144
51022

1379
146
159
4135
65
4273
682
6464
1382
1723
6092
144
51321

Table II: Status of Replacement of MARR VPTs as on 31.05.2013

Page | 23

Sl.
No.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
15A
15B
15
C
16
16A
16B
16
C
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Service area

Andaman &
Nicobar
Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Jharkhand
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Chhattisgarh
Maharashtra
North East-I
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Tripura
North East-II
Arunachal
Pradesh
Manipur
Nagaland
Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh
(East)
Uttar Pradesh
(West)
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Total

Total number of
MARR based
VPTs targeted
to be replaced
with VPTs on
new reliable
technology

MARR VPTs
replaced
with DSPTs
(Satellite
Technology)

MARR VPTs
replaced with
non-Satellite
Technology

Total MARR
VPTs replaced
till 30.06.2012
i.e. till closure
of the scheme

72
10335
9294
7431
3570
4106
1423
949
2295
14571
4
21111
5021
15222
1901
1056
527

0
0
0
0
0
13
0
4
5
0
0
37
17
33
169
141
28

72
10335
9197
7431
3570
4093
1423
945
2290
14571
4
21074
4871
15180
1717
902
497

72
10335
9197
7431
3570
4106
1423
949
2295
14571
4
21111
4888
15213
1886
1043
525

318
1531

0
28

318
1464

318
1492

440
547

9
15

408
516

417
531

544
11912
2135
14574
6000

4
34
0
7
0

540
11852
2135
14564
6000

544
11886
2135
14571
6000

27339

27339

27339

9957
2876
11492
185121

0
23
0
370

9957
2853
11492
184429

9957
2876
11492
184799

Table III: Circlewise progress report of RCPs upto 31.05.10

Page | 24

S.
No.

To be provided
To be provided
(As per Agreement) (Recoinciled Figures)
Service Area

Andaman & Nicobar

BSNL RIL

Total BSNL

RIL

Achievement

Total BSNL

RIL

Total

Andhra Pradesh

3677

1865

5542

3671

1761

5432

3671

Assam

1913

1913

1913

1913

1913

Bihar

1302

3254

4556

1224

3243

4467

1224

Jharkhand

451

451

448

448

448

448

Gujarat#

1829

272

2101

1461

66

1527

1461

66

1527

Haryana

145

626

771

88

402

490

88

402

490

Himachal Pradesh

95

95

36

36

36

36

Jammu & Kashmir

122

122

56

56

56

56

1528

669

2197

1528

451

1979

1528

451

1979

12 Madhya Pradesh

1759

1759

1730

1730

1730

1730

13 Chhattisgarh

627

627

627

627

627

627

14 Maharashtra

3140

305

3445

1735

185

1920

1735

185

1920

15 North East-I

505

505

256

256

256

256

15A Meghalaya

28

28

28

28

28

28

15B Mizoram

21

21

21

21

21

21

15C Tripura

456

456

207

207

207

207

193

193

186

186

186

186

16A Arunachal Pradesh

16B Manipur

95

95

89

89

89

89

16C Nagland

91

91

90

90

90

90

17 Orissa

936

936

936

936

936

936

18 Punjab

43

225

268

43

183

226

43

183

226

19 Rajasthan

1416

1416

1413

1413

1413

1413

20 TN & Pondichery

1424

1769

3193

1416

1441

2857

1416

1441 2857

21 Uttar Pradesh ( East)

2295

4721

7016

1770

4062

5832

1770

4062 5832

22 Uttar Pradesh (West)

344

344

344

344

344

23 Uttaranchal

3183

3188

3075

3079

3075 3079

24 West Bengal

1072

4542

5614

1072

3867

4939

1072

3867 4939

10 Karnataka
11 Kerala

16 North East-II

Total

1761 5432
0

1913

3243 4467

344

24822 21431 46253 21958 18736 40694 21958 18736 40694

Page | 25

Table IV: Operator wise number of SDCAs where RDELs are to be provided
Sl.No
.

Service Area

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Andaman
&
Nicobar
Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Jharkhand
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh

9
10
11
12
13

Jammu
&
Kashmir
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Chhattisgarh

14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Maharashtra
North East-I
North East-II
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
UP( East)
UP(West)
Uttaranchal
West Bengal
TOTAL

Service Provider

Total
number of
eligible
SDCAs

Number of (SSAs)/SDCAs
BSNL
RIL TTL
TTL
(171)
(61)
(37) (MH)
(5)

BSNL,RIL
BSNL
BSNL,RIL,TTL
BSNL
BSNL,RIL
RIL, TTL
BSNL,RIL

0
117
26
56
66
120
16
22

0
81
26
44
66
99
0
11

0
36
0
3
0
21
3
11

0
0
0
9
0
0
13
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

BSNL
BSNL,RIL,TTL
BSNL,RIL
BSNL,RIL,TTL
BSNL
BSNL,RIL,TTL(MH
)
BSNL
BSNL
BSNL
BSNL,RIL,TTL
BSNL,RIL,TTL
BSNL,RIL
BSNL,RIL,TTL
RIL,TTL
BSNL
BSNL,RIL

19
117
15
230
88

19
66
10
209
88

0
43
5
10
0

0
8
0
11
0

0
0
0
0
0

228
27
50
96
18
203
24
84
21
29
13
1685

172
27
50
96
5
118
6
39
0
29
6
1267

13
0
0
0
1
5
18
15
12
0
7
203

0
0
0
0
12
80
0
30
9
0
0
172

43
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
43

Table V: Status of RDELs provided as on 31.03.10

Page | 26

Sl.No
.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Service Area

Andaman & Nicobar

Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Jharkhand
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Chhattisgarh
Maharashtra
North East-I
North East-II
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
UP( East)
UP(West)
Uttaranchal
West Bengal
TOTAL

Total
number
of
eligible
SDCAs

0
117
26
56
66
120
16
22
19
117
15
230
88
228
27
50
96
18
203
24
84
21
29
13
1685

Cumulative number of RDELs provided since

01.04.2005
BSNL

0
222867
65549
123097
52701
222150
0
14334
26214
205294
554
521441
153340
462851
51221
26858
157752
18578
213725
47114
202785
0
55634
6356
285041
5

RIL

TTL

0
0
354275
0
0
0
14807
200537
0
0
181451
0
19075
224167
80013
0
0
0
407572
108811
237149
0
111065
226292
0
0
113658
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5004
324270
88115
584168
292686
0
74674
320564
144330 106917
0
0
62932
0
2186806 2095726

TTL
(MH)

Total

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
794244
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
794244

0
577142
65549
338441
52701
403601
243242
94347
26214
721677
237703
858798
153340
1370753
51221
26858
157752
347852
886008
339800
598023
251247
55634
69288
7927191

Page | 27

Table VI-A: Commissioning status of Towers (State-wise) as on 31.05.2013

in rural & remote areas for provision of mobile services

S.
NO.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

State

Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamilnadu
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttrakhand
West Bengal
TOTAL

Number
of
Districts
22
12
20
37
16
4
8
11
12
18
26
11
45
33
9
7
8
7
30
3
32
3
27
4
66
13
16
500

Number of Mobile Tower

sites to be set up under
Shared Mobile
Infrastructure Scheme of
USOF
596
67
87
453
553
59
12
258
81
273
381
46
933
956
98
107
43
51
434
14
403
6
327
115
653
184
163
7353

Number of
Tower Sites
Set up
596
65
87
453
553
59
12
258
81
273
381
43
933
956
69
107
43
50
434
14
403
6
327
115
652
184
163
7317

Table VI-B: Commissioning status of Towers (IP-wise) as on 31.05.2013

in rural & remote areas for provision of Mobile Services
Page | 28

Table VIIA Broadband connectons provided by BSNL under USOF plans up to April
2012.
BB
Home
BBG
BBG
Rural
Rural
Rural
USO BB Home
BBG
USO BBG Rural USO BB Home F
Rural
Total
Rural BBG
F
USOF
F
Rural
Comb USOF
USOF
USO Rural
Comb Combo
Comb USOF UL o UL Combo Connecti
Telecom Circle
F 99 USOF 150 o 250 550
o 999 799
899 UL 500 ons
Andaman and
Nicobar
Andhra Pradesh

238

12

1,370 11,714 7,015

31

0
11

296

1,330

143

58

57

29,008

50,695

ASSAM

165

721

18

384

15

12

1,318

Bihar

212

717

321

34

783

34

89

2,192

Chhattisgarh

128

916

134

29

10

491

1,711

Chennai Telecom
Dist
Gujarat

88

292

925

230

22

719

9,052

1,344

899

58

19

3,844
7,751

5,410
19,844

Haryana

427

4,269

712

82

31

20

33

6,078

11,652

3,917

341

77

12

1,601

7,340

32
2
802

1
317
106

8
4
55

3
0
50

598
40

1,641
1,282

6,361

23,665

1,184

71

30

60,371

82,696

271

29

805

4,337

664

78

169

14

6,986

28,566

Himachal Pradesh 1,381

Jammu and
Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra

139
763
97
99
734
86
1,327 12,091 2,873
13,95
923 6,155
4
233

2581

406

2,966 15,221 2,468

Page | 29

NORTH EAST-I

155

32

495

35

731

113

177

13

51

356

Orissa

297

315

2045

Punjab

344

2825
5,753

77

5,559

3231

303

107

35

13

32,399

42,185

Rajasthan

1,545

4,762

2,917

944

119

335

57

5,824

16,503

Tamilnadu

868

5092

3118

750

52

33

68

16616

26,597

4,569

144

130

34

1,731

7,668

132

714

101

21

750

1,728

Uttaranchal

1,062

781

552

89

10

1,803

4,308

WB

5249
0

1827
0

30
0

3887
0

60
0

7
0

322

12,686

KOTD

1304
0

TOTAL

16,900

99,458

42,956

7,908

8,826

951

362

183,605

360,966

NORTH EAST-II

Uttar Pradesh (East)1,048

Uttar Pradesh
(West)

Table VII B: Installation report of BB Kiosk in rural areas under USOF agreement for
April -12
Circle
Andaman and Nicobar
Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chennai Telecom Distt
Chhatishgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh

Installed up to
March-12
1
1122
84
157
23
97
466
136
103
42
76
1118
240
1077

Installed up to
April-12
1
1101
84
158
23
97
471
136
99
43
76
1120
250
1077

Installed in April-12
0
-21
0
1
0
0
5
0
-4
1
0
2
10
0
Page | 30

Maharashtra
North East I
North East Il
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamilnadu
Uttar Pradesh (East)
Uttar Pradesh (West)
Uttaranchal
West Bengal
Total

452
8
0
265
546
1295
1123
389
434
74
35
9363

707
8
0
301
546
1294
1132
393
440
74
35
9666

255
0
0
36
0
-1
9
4
6
0
0
303

Table VII C PCs installation report up to April 2012 under PCs bundling scheme

CIRCLE

Total
Inatalled
by HCL as
on
31/03/201
2

Total
Inatalled
by
Novatium
as on
31/03/201
2

Total PCs
installed
upto
31/03/201
2

Total
Inatalled
by HCL as
on
30/04/201
2

Total
Inatalled
by
Novatium
as on
30/04/201
2

A&N

A P.

658

356

1014

658

356

Assam

49

49

49

Bihar

205

203

408

Chattisgarh

77

120

Chennai

Gujarat

Haryana

H.P

Total PCs
installed
upto
30/04/201
2

Total
PCs
installe
d in
April'
2012

1014

49

205

203

408

197

77

120

197

231

231

231

231

532

98

630

532

98

630

75

2693

2768

75

2693

2768

1065

1283

2348

1065

1283

2348

10

J&K

18

18

18

18

11

Jharkhand

24

31

24

31

12

Karnataka

120

1604

1724

120

1604

1724

13

Kerala

1282

38

1320

1282

38

1320

14

315

624

939

315

624

939

15

MP
Maharashtr
a

475

407

882

475

407

882

16

NEI

17

N E II

18

Orissa

278

311

589

278

311

589

19

Punjab

56

1138

1194

56

1138

1194

Page | 31

20

Rajasthan

453

774

1227

453

789

1242

15

21

Tamilnadu
U P (East)
U P (West)
Uttaranchal
W. B.
Total

360
197
92
35
171
6519

1717
2668
1103
352
16
15761

2077
2865
1195
387
187
22280

360
197
92
35
171
6519

1718
2668
1103
352
16
15777

2078
2865
1195
387
187
22296

1
0
0
0
0
16

22
23
24
25

Table VIII: USO Fund Status

Collection of Universal Access Levy vis-a-vis Allocation and Disbursement of Funds from USOF ( in
Crores of Rupees)

Financial
Year

(1)

Funds Collected
Funds
as UAL (as per
allocated
DoT A/Cs)

(2)

Reimbursement
of LF and
Spectrum
Charges to BSNL

Funds
disbursed

(3)

(4)

Balance

(5)

(6)

2002-03

1653.61

300

300

2300

-946.39

2003-04

2143.22

200

200

2300

-356.78

2004-05

3457.73

1314.59

1314.59

1765.68

377.46

2005-06

3215.13

1766.85

1766.85

582.96

865.32

2006-07

3940.73

1500

1500

2440.73

2007-08

5405.8

1290

1290

4115.8

2008-09

5515.14

1600

1600

3915.14

2009-10

5778

2400

2400

3378

2010-11

6114.56

3100

3100

3014.56

2011-12

6723.57

1687.96

1687.96

5035.61

2012-13

6735.46

625

625

50682.95

15784.4

15784.4

6948.64

Total

27949.91

Page | 32

REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

www.dot.gov.in
www.usof.gov.in
www.trai.gov.in
Department of Telecom Annual Reports 2006-07 and 2012-13
Department of New Telecom Policies, 1994, 1999, and 2012

Page | 33