Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has congratulated the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the government of India for the launch of ‘Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal’, a central right of way (RoW) portal, and their efforts for the deployment of 5G in India. The vision for this portal is to provide a collaborative institutional mechanism between all stakeholders including Central and State/UT government(s), central land owning authorities (Railways, Defence, Porta, etc.), local bodies, and service providers to facilitate the RoW applications and permissions for the deployment of the digital infrastructure- mobile towers and optical fibre cable (OFC) in the country. The COAI lauds the efforts for the development of this portal through which telecom service providers/IPs will be able to submit their applications and the government authorities will be able to process and give timely permissions for the deployment of digital network infrastructure.
For the enhancement of digital services and the forthcoming roll-out of 5G services in India, the country requires densification of mobile networks. Facilitation of development of the national digital infrastructure is one of the key areas of focus for the DoT, for it is struggling with the basics when it comes to RoW. The launch of the portal will help the states/UTs/central agencies who have not developed their own portal to use the ‘Gati Shakti Sanchar portal’ for processing the applications filed by TSPs/IPs for the deployment of digital infrastructure.
Commenting on the development, Lt. Gen. Dr. SP Kochhar, director general, COAI, said, “The launch of Gati Shakti – Sugam Sanchar Portal is a milestone which will enable the government’s vision for ‘Digital India’. It provides a platform to process for both the authorities and industry to apply for RoW approvals for laying OFC and erecting mobile towers, and small cells on street furniture etc. to submit their applications to various agencies of the State/UT Governments and local bodies. It is an important step towards making a robust mechanism to achieve the goal of “Broadband to All” as envisaged in the National Digital Communication Policy-2018’’.
Currently, the application process for the installation of digital infrastructure gets delayed due to inconsistency and uncertainty of policy and processes adopted at various levels. Thus, it requires maintaining a fast-tracking application process to overcome the challenges of implementation of Right of Way Rules-2016. This portal will bring transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to all stakeholders.
