Improve teledensity in Odisha, Amar urges Union Minister

Bhubaneswar: Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Amar Patnaik has written to Union Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad urging the latter to take steps for improving teledensity in Odisha.

“As per TRAI data released in January this year, the all-India average teledensity was 91.82%. However, the teledensity rate in Odisha was only 77.22%. What is distressing is that as per the latest TRAI report released two days ago, this rate has further gone down to 75.65%. The quality of basic as well as internet services is still worse in many remote areas of Odisha, so much so that people have to climb up trees to get connected,” the MP wrote in the letter.

Nearly 10,000 villages in Odisha have no access to mobile networks. Most of these villages are located in LWE-affected districts. Nearly 50% of villages in Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada districts have no access to mobile networks. This includes 1652 villages in Kandhamal, 1020 in Koraput, 601 in Malkangiri and 1498 villages in Rayagada district, Patnaik mentioned in the letter.

Teledensity in Odisha has to reach the national average by putting in place an effective implementation/execution plan, he opined.