USOF scheme for 4G mobile services in Aspirational Districts

• Union Cabinet has given its approval for provisioning of mobile services in Uncovered Villages of Aspirational Districts across five States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra & Odisha.
• The Project envisages to provide 4G based mobile services in the 7,287 uncovered villages of 44 Aspirational Districts across five States at an estimated cost of implementation about Rs 6,466 crore including operational expenses for 5 years.
• The project would be funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and will be completed within 18 months after the signing of the Agreement.

About the project

• The project will enhance digital connectivity useful for self-reliance, facilitate learning, dissemination of information and knowledge, skill upgradation and development, disaster management, e-Governance initiatives, establishment of enterprises & e-commerce facilities, etc.
• It seeks to fulfill the vision of Digital India promoting domestic manufacturing and fulfilling the objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat etc.

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF):

• USOF was established in April 2002 under the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act 2003 by an act of parliament.
• It aims to provide financial support for the provision of telecom services in commercially unviable rural and remote areas of the country.
• It is headed by the USOF Administrator who reports to the Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
• Funds come from the Universal Service Levy (USL) of 5% charged from all the telecom operators on their Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) which are then deposited into the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Disbursement require prior parliamentary approval.
• It is a non-lapsable fund, i.e., the unspent amount under a targeted financial year does not lapse and is accrued for next years’ spending.
• All credits to this fund require parliamentary approval and it has statutory support under Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003.

Objectives of USOF:

• Economic: Network extension & stimulate uptake of the ICT services
• Social: Mainstreaming the underserved & un-served areas/groups by bridging the Access Gap.
• Political: to enable citizens exercise their political rights in an informed way and
• Constitutional: Equitable distribution of the fruits of the telecom/digital revolution and fair allocation of national resource (pooled USO levy) via targeted subsidies