The Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) has urged the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to implement provisions of National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP), 2018 regarding sharing of active infrastructure by enhancement of scope of IP-I registration.
In its letter to Anshu Prakash, secretary (telecom), DoT, Ministry of Communications, TAIPA said that, the telecom sector requires investments for the expeditious rollout of new technology. The sharing of active infrastructure by enhancement of scope of IP-I registration, without any licensing requirement, is one of the key policy provisions of NDCP 2018 which is awaiting implementation for more than three years now. Further, it added that the decision would provide a much-needed impetus to achieve the targets enshrined in NDCP 2018 besides achieving the goal of $1 trillion from digital services by 2025. Any further delay in the implementation would lead to corresponding delays in achieving the various objectives of NDCP 2018, besides causing impediments to the rollout of 5G technology as well.
According to the industry body, the deployment of common shareable passive and active infrastructure, will lead to ready to utilisation of infrastructure, and will attract investments in the sector. Additionally, telecom operators may benefit from reduced capex and opex requirements.
In addition, TAIPA has also urged for the faster implementation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) recommendations dated March 2020. The recommendations allow active infrastructure sharing of telecom access networks within the scope of the IP-1 category of registration.
