The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has opposed the Ministry of Defence’s proposal asking operators to extend mobile coverage to 20 nautical miles into the seas.
According to DoT, this requirement is not a part of an operators’ rollout obligation. Further, DoT has said that the option of establishing coastal base stations for extending mobile coverage to such areas was not feasible. Instead, it has requested the Ministry of Defence to explore the viability of a satellite-based solution for this purpose.
This is the second time the Ministry of Defence put forward this proposal. It had done so earlier, with the view to helping fishermen maintain mobile connectivity.
