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Telecom operators continue to face problems in installing mobile towers in States due to tough rules being imposed on them, which are also not aligned with the Centre’s norms, Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) said on Friday.
“Except five States — Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Kerala and Odisha — none of them have aligned their Right of Way (RoW) rules for telecom infrastructure with that of the Department of Telecommunications.
“This is creating huge impediments in installation of mobile towers, in turn affecting quality of service,” said TAIPA Director-General Tilak Raj Dua said.
Quality factor
The DoT had issued a RoW policy in November 2016, which provides no restriction on location of telecom towers, a single-window clearance mechanism, a defined time-period for approvals, appointment of nodal officers, nominal administrative fees and deemed approval, extensively supporting the Digital India mission.
Dua said mobile-tower firms are facing major problems in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra.
“Some State governments have given us the opportunity to express our view, but some don’t give us any chance. If (more) mobile towers are installed, call quality will increase in these States,” he said.
“The action by States will hinder the government’s visionary flagship programmes of Digital India, Smart Cities and financial inclusion.”.
TAIPA, whose members include Bharti Infratel, ATC Towers, GTL Infrastructure, Reliance Infratel, Indus Towers and Tower Vision, said industry players have been taking up their issues with the Punjab government since 2013, Himachal and Maharashtra since 2014, and with Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat governments since 2015, but in vain.
Pending policy
Dua said the draft policy of Madhya Pradesh has been pending for notification since 2015 and imposes multiple fee levies of up to ₹1 lakh, restricts location of towers and mast height, offers limited government lands, lacks single-window clearance and provides permission only for five years.
“The draft of MP policy eventually hinders the momentum of tower installation across the State,” he said.
Gujarat’s policy focusses on installation of towers only for 4G technology rather than the holistic development of telecom infrastructure.
Dua said even the existing 4G policy of Gujarat imposes multiple levies such as annual renewal fee, security deposit, one-time charges for telecom infrastructure installation and escalation of annual fee by 10 per cent after every three years.
“Additionally, the policy imposes exorbitantly high charges for laying optical fibre cable (OFC), ranging ₹1,000-1,500 per running metre which amounts to ₹10 lakh per km, while the charges prescribed under the Indian Telegraph Right of Way is ₹1,000 per km for laying OFC and ₹10,000 for deploying telecom towers,” Dua said.
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