The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued guidelines for active infrastructure sharing for operators and infrastructure providers.
Active infrastructure sharing would be limited to antennae, feeder cables, node B, radio access networks and transmission systems only. Sharing of the allocated spectrum will not be permitted and the licensing conditions will be suitably amended wherever necessary to permit such sharing.
DoT has also reduced the time-frame for the Standing Advisory Committee for Frequency Allocation to clear applications for setting up of towers and other related infrastructure, to 45 days from the earlier 90 days.
The new strategy is expected to reduce the overall expenditure of telecom players by 50 per cent and help reduce tariffs further. The guidelines are also expected to give a boost to the new players who have received licences. These companies can now share both active and passive infrastructure of the existing players to launch their services. Active infrastructure sharing will, moreover, expedite the rollout of mobile networks across the country, especially in rural India.
The new guidelines also make it difficult for local bodies to randomly tax telecom companies. According to DoT, state governments should charge a uniform levy irrespective of the number of operators sharing the infrastructure. At present, different levies are imposed on telecom operators for towers and other infrastructure, with each operator paying the levies independently, even if they share infrastructure with the existing players.
The guidelines add that tower companies as well as service providers can bid for all upcoming projects funded from the Universal Service Obligation Fund.
Overall, the move is expected to reduce the time-to-market and facilitate telecom rollout.
