COAI, AUPSI and TAIPA seek Najeeb Jung’s support to provide quality telecom services in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Industry lobbies representing GSM, CDMA and telecom tower firms have written to Delhi’s Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung to provide necessary permissions for installing more mobile towers and Right of Way (RoW) to lay additional optical fibre cable (OFC) in Delhi so that telcos are able to provide quality cellular services in the state.
“For providing seamless connectivity without any gaps, it is required to have a continuous mesh of cell sites in the mobile network architecture,” the bodies said in a joint letter, seen by ET.

They said that the current government’s vision, including ‘Digital India’, ‘Smart Cities’ and ‘inclusive growth’ is achievable only with a robust and scalable mobile network.

The bodies have requested Jung to issue of suitable instructions to the state and concerned agencies for clearing all pending tower and OFC installation applications on priority basis and enable tower and OFC installation at all requisite places within the state to provide required telecom and data coverage.
“The state governments and local authorities have not been able to devise bylaws and state-specific guidelines which could address the concerns such as non-adequate telecom network coverage. The industry, on multiple occasions, has highlighted to the authorities the need to have uniform guidelines across all the states for provide permission for installing more mobile towers and RoW to lay additional OFC,” the letter reads.

The telcos and tower firms have asked for a single window clearance to expedite the permission process in a time-bound manner, and have demanded zero RoW charges for OFC being laid by operators, as they have done in case of national broadband project.

In addition, the communiqué also asked for the formulation of rules for easy installation of telecom towers in government buildings to showcase its commitment to growth of ICT technologies in Delhi.

“DoT Guidelines dated August 1, 2013 issued to the State Governments, regarding issuance of clearance for installation of mobile towers, clearly defines important actions to be taken by the DoT/TERM cells and the state governments/local bodies,” the letter says.

The bodies also requested Jung to initiate public awareness programmes to allay the misconceptions pertaining to mobile towers and radiations. “The industry is willing to provide all possible assistance to you in this regard.”