According to Towers and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA), only 16 out of the 37 states/union territories in India have so far aligned with the RoW Right of Way (RoW) rules, 2016, issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
As per TAIPA, the non alignment to RoW Rules, 2016 in the remaining states/UTs is jeopardising the rolling out of telecom infrastructure including the towers, laying fibre cable in those states. This ultimately affects the call quality, increases network congestion and call drops.
The RoW rules, 2016, provide a framework for giving approvals for setting up of telecom towers and laying of fibre cables, settlement of disputes in a time-bound manner, and improve coordination between companies and the State government authorities and local bodies. It also prescribes for setting up a web-based online portal for a single window clearance mechanism to ensure time bound approvals.
