Shillong, March 16: A list of 1,613 villages was submitted to the Centre to be covered with mobile network under the Universal Service Obligation FUnd (USOF).
In reply to a question by HM Shangpliang on Wednesday in Assembly, Information Technology Minister Hamletson Dohling said, “We had already taken up with the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India on January 6, with regards to the uncovered villages and the list of 1,613 villages was sent to the DoT,”.
The minister said not all remote areas of the state are provided with mobile network facilities by setting up of mobile towers.
As telecom is a central subject, Dohling said the state government is actively pursuing with Department of Telecommunications, to facilitate and speed-up the process of covering the unconvered inhabited villages of the state.
All telecome towers set up in Meghalaya are either financed directly by the Telecom companies themselves or by the Government of India through the USOF, he said.
Since Telecom companies set up telecom towers in commercially viable areas, the Central government funds for the setting up of telecom infrastructure in remote areas which are not commercially viable through USOF, he said.
The state government is pursuing with the government of India to cover the Kenbah and Kenmynsaw village areas with mobile network under USOF, the minister added.
