Odisha has the highest percentage of villages without mobile access even as the nation-wide rollout of the next-generation, high-speed 5G service continues. Data from the Department of Telecom (DoT) indicates that 5,770 villages in the state are not inside the mobile service area of the 24,680 unconnected villages in the nation. Andhra Pradesh (4,542), Madhya Pradesh (3,602), and Rajasthan follow Odisha in order (3,338).
45,406 of the state’s 51,176 villages have access to 2G, 3G, or 4G mobile services, with 25,115 towers and 74,072 base terminal stations (BTS). In the state, there are more than 100 uncovered villages in at least 12 districts. Kandhamal has the most villages (1,247), followed by Rayagada (1,041), Koraput (598), Gajapati (582), Kalahandi (545), Malkangiri (312), Nayagarh (224), Ganjam (192), Mayurbhanj (155), Sundargarh (155), and Deogarh (122).
Despite having 3.32 crore mobile customers, 2.21 crore of whom are in rural areas and 1.1 crore in urban areas, Odisha has a lower teledensity than the national average of 85%, at about 80%. BK Nayak, senior deputy director general and head of the Department of Transportation in Odisha, claimed that the majority of the undiscovered villages are spread throughout 10 aspirational and nine left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected districts.
“The department has set a target to cover every village irrespective of population with at least 4G by December 2023 through universal service obligation fund (USOF) projects fully supported and funded by the Centre. Reliance Jio has won the bid to set up mobile towers in both LWE affected districts and aspirational districts in the state,” he said.
According to DoT sources, there are 7,113 unconnected villages in Odisha without 4G. 483 4G towers have been approved for construction under LWE Phase II at a cost of Rs 422 crore, with a March completion date goal. Similar to this, 2,379 4G mobile towers would be installed in 3,933 villages across 10 aspirational districts by November for a total of Rs 1,808 crore.
“Survey has been completed for 3,564 villages and land acquisition is under process. The state government is providing land free of cost. Under the USOF, it has also been planned to upgrade all existing 2G/3G towers to 4G. BSNL has been assigned to upgrade 1000 villages under this scheme,” Nayak added.
