Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Sanjay Dhotre recently held a meeting with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to review a range of issues, including mobile connectivity in the border areas of Uttarakhand.
In the meeting, minister reviewed the progress of installation of mobile towers in remote border areas of Uttarakhand funded under Universal Service Obligation Fund. Further, the progress of other projects were also reviewed including BharatNet and the National Broadband Mission (NBM).
The minister stressed on providing broadband connectivity to cater to the needs of the migrant residents of Uttarakhand. He also asked officials to improve the mobile network on the Char Dham Yatra route.
Further, Dhotre directed Arun Kumar Verma, DDG (state coordination), HoD, Uttarakhand field unit, DoT, to coordinate with the Uttarakhand government and telcos to achieve the coverage of uncovered areas with mobile services and targets envisaged under the National Broadband Mission regarding spread of broadband.
According to the government, 28 4G mobile towers in the border areas in Chamoli, Champawat, Pithoragarh, and Uttarkashi districts are planned under the USO project. Out of these, 22 sites are already finalised and tower installation is in progress in 11 sites.
