The Indian telecom sector has seen significant development in the past few years. The industry has been consolidating slowly and now a few players dominate the market. Companies have also gradually shifted from a competitive to a cooperative engagement model in the telecom tower space, owing to the operational and infrastructural challenges faced by operators today. The two main challenges facing telecom service providers (TSPs) in infrastructure expansion are the availability of right of way (RoW) to set up infrastructure such as towers and cables, and the lack of ability of the incumbents to finance the expansion, given the growing share of non-performing assets.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 on November 15, 2016 with the aim of facilitating ease of doing business. This move has been welcomed by the telecom industry as it seeks an enabling framework for the grant of RoW in the sector for the establishment and maintenance of underground infrastructure (optical fibre) and overground infrastructure (mobile towers). The RoW rules have various enabling features such as single-window clearances via online portals that have to be created by state governments, a nominal one-time administrative fee for telecom infrastructure, time-bound and deemed approvals, and a dispute resolution mechanism.
Status of RoW Rules adoption
Only eight states have aligned their policies with the RoW rules issued by DoT. These include Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Haryana, Rajasthan and Assam. Aside from adopting the various provisions of the RoW rules, the policies of these states include provisions such as applicability to both IP-Is and TSPs, validity of permissions made coterminus with the licence period, and availability of government land and buildings. The key challenge faced by these states, however, is the lack of clarity with regard to implementation of the policy.
Apart from the above-mentioned states, the policy alignment of 12 states is still under discussion while nine states have absolutely no favourable telecom policy in alignment with the RoW rules.
Key challenges
The issues arising due to non-alignment of the RoW rules are many. Most of the states have issued more than one policy for the installation of telecom towers, which leads to chaos and confusion and a delay in tower roll-outs. For instance, in Delhi, the policies are issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and under the Delhi bylaws. There is an absence of a single-window clearance mechanism, as a result of which TSPs/IPs have to obtain approvals and no-objection certificates (NOCs) from multiple authorities such as fire services, airports authority, forest department, etc. This creates a serious roadblock in the roll-out of new sites and in the overall development process.
Further, there is no uniformity in the fees charged. Multiple fees are levied on service providers, ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 500,000. In some cases, the industry has to pay annual, renewal or sharing charges, over and above the first fees.
Added to this is the problem of scarcity of land for erecting towers. Government-owned land and buildings are not easily available and many state governments have put further restrictions on the installation of telecom infrastructure in schools, colleges, hospitals and residential areas. However, it is important to note that the installation of towers is not done on an ad hoc basis, but is based on research. It is only after careful examination of a site in terms of signal traffic, capacity and several other parameters, that a site is selected for tower installation. Artificial restrictions by the state government regarding height or setback limits for towers only add to the problems. Often tower companies face arbitrary sealing of towers or disconnection of electricity, which leads to downtime and a degradation in service quality.
Another challenge is the poor availability of grid power to towers in various pockets of the country. Tower companies that have been accorded infrastructure status continue to be charged commercial rates.
The way forward
Going forward it is imperative that the government makes further efforts to enforce the RoW rules across the country. There should be a rationalisation of fees, charges and levies and alignment with the RoW rules. A single-window, time-bound clearance mechanism should be encouraged for the installation of telecom towers to ensure rapid development of national networks. Unlawful restrictions on the location of mobile towers should be done away with. Permission should be given for the installation of mobile towers and in-building solutions in government buildings, defence land and transit hubs like airports, railway stations and residential complexes. Further, since various government initiatives such as the Smart Cities Mission and Digital India are riding on the back of a robust tower and fibre infrastructure, uninterrupted power supply at industrial rates should be provided to all cell sites.
Based on a presentation by T.R. Dua, Director General, TAIPA
