According to Bharti Airtel, more streamlined right of way (RoW) charges, licence fee waivers and better subscriber reporting will be necessary enablers for expanding broadband. In a presentation to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the operator cited the challenges it is facing while expanding its broadband network across India.
Airtel stated that the government has defined a standard rate of Rs 1,000 per km for underground rollout but states are still issuing demand notes ranging from Re 1 to Rs 33,000 per metre. High rates in a few states make the business case totally unviable. It also said that while the government has defined a flat rate of Rs 100 per pole per annum, various authorities are charging rates running from Rs 100 to Rs 1,700 per pole per annum as pole rental charges, asking for uniform charges across the country.
Airtel asked for a policy to handle RoW like housing societies, easy and standardised recovery of security deposits, bank guarantees, and goods and services tax (GST) invoices, standard restoration charges to be defined centrally, and shortening of the approval process from different government bodies.
Further, Airtel highlighted that the industry is awaiting an 8 per cent licence fee waiver for broadband to boost capex deployment by private players, which will help more homes get connected.
Additionally, the operator said that while the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reports there are 1,007 internet service providers (ISPs), there are in fact many more service providers and there is a need for stricter compliance to safeguard subscriber interests and ensure 100 per cent licence fee collection.
The telco also highlighted challenges in operating subsea cables and data centres. It cited a high turnaround time in Indian waters compared to other countries, which is leading to high cost, and cable cuts due to fishing trawlers for which it said there are no effective mechanisms for information sharing and safeguarding cable routes. For its data centres, Airtel said a long gestation period on environment clearances, a lack of policy for all civil, electrical and operational certifications, ineffective single window clearances, and a lack of Indian data centre standards as challenges. It also cited huge power tariffs and high variation across states, capping on renewable energy processes and GST input credit on civil construction not available for data centre services as hurdles in its data centre business.
