In order to improve mobile services and address call- drop problems, private companies will be allowed to install towers atop Government buildings, including on premises of the postal department and defence establishments.
The Ministry of Urban Development (UDM) has agreed in principal to allow installation of mobile towers on such buildings subject to structural safety and payment of licence fee by telecom operators.
These mobile towers will reportedly be a shared facility for all service providers. The Government agencies and local bodies had earlier refused to give permission to service providers to install their towers atop their buildings on security grounds.
The UDM was flooded with complaints from telecom operators about non availability of suitable tower locations due to acquisition problems and sealing of mobile tower sites by local bodies like the municipal corporations in Delhi and BirhanMumbai Municipal Corporation, which hampered their efforts to reduce the number of call drops. Mobile phone operators had also approached the Delhi High Court in 2010 against MCD’s decision to change its policy on the establishment of such towers.
Sources in the Ministry said the Government will soon come out with a policy to address the problems faced by telecom operators. “The issue is being looked into and soon the Ministry will allow installing of mobile towers atop Government buildings,” a well-placed officer said. According to Indian Tower Industry report, there are about 4,00,000 mobile towers which include only 700 standalone 3G and 4G towers.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on call drops, headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, had recommended that department of telecom and mobile service providers should urgently take up the issue with the Postal Department and other Central Ministries so as to enable the telecom operators to speedily set up towers atop their respective buildings.
The report said the Defence wing has issued a detailed policy guideline for the installation of Cell-On-Wheels (CoW) in Cantonment areas. It said 61 locations in Delhi Cantonment Area have been identified in a joint survey conducted by DoT, Defence Estate, service providers, and other Defence authorities.
The Defence Ministry has initiated a Cabinet note to lease out defence land for the installation of mobile towers on all-India basis to improve the quality of service and address the problems related to call drops.
The Postal Department too framed guidelines last year for use of its buildings for the purpose. It is learnt that the service providers had raised certain concerns and called for modifications which are now under active consideration of the Postal Department.
The report said setting up towers on Government buildings would definitely prove to be of considerable help in improving network performance further, as in many cities, Government buildings and defence areas are the only places where towers can be set up.
The Committee, however, noted that a majority of Government Departments do not allow the installation of Base Transceiver Station (BTS) as a matter of policy and some due to security concerns.
Taking a note of not allowing Government building for mobile towers, the report said when Government Depart-ment/agencies themselves are resisting setting up of towers on their premises or building due to various reasons, it leaves little scope by way of setting an example for the Residents’ Welfare Associations to allow setting up of towers in the residential areas.
“Setting up of towers in Government building helps a lot in network planning and site addition, especially in congested areas is good from Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) perspective, which eventually leads to better quality of service,” it said.
The Committee noted that sealing of towers by local bodies of States/ UTs is acting as one of the hindrances to uninterrupted services by TSPs leading to poor network coverage and call drops in the country.
A meeting was also held with local bodies of Delhi and Mumbai to resolve the issue. The report said telecom service providers are facing lot of challenges because different States have come up with their own tower policies, which are non-uniform and impose restrictions relating to the setting up of towers near schools, hospitals, colleges and jails.