(a) whether the Government have set any target to connect telephone exchanges with Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) during 2001-2002;

(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;

(c) the number of telephone exchanges proposed to be linked with OFC by the end of Ninth Five Year Plan, State-wise;

(d) the number of telephone exchanges connected with optical fibre cable in the country as on date, State-wise;

(e) the number of telephone exchanges are in progress; and

(f) the time by which these are likely to be completed?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI TAPAN SIKDAR)

(a) No Sir, however as per NTP 99 Department of Telecommunications has planned to connect all the exchanges in the country with reliable media which includes Microwave, Satellite and Optical Fibre Cable by March, 2002 depending upon geographical location and technical feasibility for the concerned exchange. After Formation of Bharat Sancahr Nigam Limited (BSNL) it is also following New Telecom Policy 1999 (NTP, 1999), and plan to give reliable media to all exchanges by March, 2002.

(b) The exchanges planned to be connected with Optical Fibre Cable during the year 2001-2002 is given in Annexure-I.

(c) & (d): State-wise details of number of exchanges proposed to be linked with Optical fibre cable by the end of Ninth Five Year Plan and number of telephone exchanges connected with Optical fibre cable in the country as on date are given in Annexure-II.

(e) Work for Optical fibre connectivity for total 3798 telephone exchanges is in progress.

(f) All the telephone exchanges are likely to be connected with reliable media by March, 2002.


ANNEXURE - I

S. No.		Telecom Circle			No. of exchanges
						to be connected by
						OFC during the year
						2001-2002



1.		Andhra Pradesh			472	


2.		Andaman & Nicobar		15	  


3.		Assam				40	  


4.		Bihar				169	


5.		Jharkhand			125	
6.		Gujarat				556						


7		Haryana				70	


8.		Himachal Pradesh		273	


9.		Jammu & Kashmir			77	
10.		Karnataka			575	
11.		Madhya Pradesh,			1240	
12.		Chhatisgarh			295	
13.		Kerala & Lakshadeep Islands	26						
14.		Maharashtra & Goa		1974        				
15.		Meghalaya			16   ]      
16.		Mizoram				9    ]    N.E.-I
17.		Tripura				6    ]  
18.		Arunachal Pradesh		7    }  
19.		Manipur 			3    }    N.E.-II
20.		Nagaland			5    }  
21.		Orissa				143	
22.		Punjab				455	
23.		Rajasthan			847	
24.		Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry	345          
25.		Uttar Pradesh			950 (UPE-800 and UPW-150)    
26.		Uttranchal			95	
27.		West Bengal, Sikkim		615	







ANNEXURE - II





S. No.		Telecom Circle			No. of			No. of exchanges
						Exchanges		connected with
						proposed to		OFC in the country
						be linked by		as  on date
						OFC by end of
						Ninth Five Year
						Plan



1.		Andhra Pradesh			2469			1997


2.         	Andaman & Nicobar		30			15


3.		Assam				277			237		 


4.		Bihar				659			490	


5.		Jharkhand			356			227 		
6.		Gujarat				2020			1464		


7		Haryana				776			706		


8.		Himachal Pradesh		577			304	


9.		Jammu & Kashmir			204			127
10.		Karnataka			2221			1646	
11.		Madhya Pradesh			2238			998	
12.		Chhatisgarh			474			179		
13.		Kerala				974                     948		
14.		Maharashtra & Goa		3627			1653
15.	   	Meghalaya			26			10   } 
16.	   	Mizoram 			16			7    } N.E.-I
17.	    	Tripura				8			2    }
18.		Arunachal Pradesh		13			6   ]
19.	     	Manipur 			9			6   ]  N.E.-II
20.	    	Nagaland			9			4   ]
21.		Orissa				927			784		
22.		Punjab				1122                    667		
23.		Rajasthan			1808		        961
24.		Tamil Nadu,Pondicherry		1662		        1317
25.		Uttar Pradesh  			2550 (UPE-1900&UPW-650) 1600 (UPE-1100&UPW-500)      
26.		Uttranchal			267			172		
27.		West Bengal, Sikkim		1159                    544