In India, the development of an extensive fibre infrastructure is the need of the hour. The successful roll-out of 5G services in the country is possible only if it is backed by a strong and widespread fibre network. However, fibre deployment has not reached the desired level in terms of fiberisation of towers. Only 20 per cent of the telecom towers in India are connected through fibre. The government aims to increase this to 60 per cent by 2022.
The draft National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP), 2018 aims to provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all gram panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022. This requires a robust fibre infrastructure. Further, fibre is used in Wi-Fi, internet of things, smart utilities, traffic management, street lighting, waste management, video steaming and in-building solutions.
Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016
A major problem in fibre deployment that needs to be addressed is right of way (RoW). In November 2016, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) released the first set of comprehensive rules, the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016, to address the problem of RoW. As per the rules, firms looking to set up a tower are required to submit the details of the selected land along with necessary approvals from the central government. The concerned authorities are required to accept or reject the applications within a span of 60 days from the date of submission. An administration fee of Rs 10,000 is to be paid for each application by the tower companies and a fee of Rs 1,000 per km is levied on companies that are laying fibre. DoT also designated officers to settle and resolve any disputes within a time span of 60 days. Further, the rules mandated the development of an electronic application process within one year, that is, by 2017. However, the project could not be implemented. This issue is now being addressed under the draft NDCP 2018, which requires setting up of a centralised system by 2019. Further, the 2016 rules mandated the appointment of nodal officers for the implementation of these rules by appropriate authorities.
Key issues and challenges
Even after the introduction of the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016, several states have not implemented the rules and have failed to appoint a nodal officer to facilitate clearances from various authorities. Some state governments and local bodies are not aware of the benefits of these rules. Further, an exorbitant administration fee has been levied for laying fibre. This is being used by local bodies to meet their own revenue targets instead of being used for restoration. These high costs have resulted in lower fibre deployment. The limitations faced by companies with regard to RoW policies and clearances could also act as a roadblock to the launch of 4G LTE and 5G services in India.
Earlier, the 2016 policy did not have provisions for tower companies. Only a telecom service provider could avail of the benefits and not IP-1s. In May 2017, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India asked DoT to revisit the RoW rules and include the tower companies (IP-1s) as their exclusion could affect the quality of services. As a result of this exclusion, the deployment of fibre to the tower (FTTT) and the growth of new mobile towers in the country had slowed down. This issue has finally been addressed in the draft NDCP 2018.
Further, there is a lack of clarity on the procedures for rolling out of infrastructure, which vary across states. There is also non-uniformity in levies across states. Obtaining approvals from both central and state agencies, such as the forest department, Indian Railways and the National Highway Authority of India, is also a challenge.
The way forward
The government should set up central and state level agencies in order to monitor the success of the policy and report and resolve issues that arise in its implementation. Real estate developers need to be encouraged to deploy fibre infrastructure in new buildings to enable faster deployment of fibre by telcos. The current policy only covers RoW-related issues, and also needs to address land acquisition challenges for deploying critical network infrastructure such as data centres, internet exchange points and telecom network operating centres. DoT must also set up a task force to oversee the implementation of RoW rules in all states. The government needs to provide financial and operational incentives through the Universal Service Obligation Fund to encourage the roll-out of telecom infrastructure in areas with lower revenue potential. The government also needs to roll back property taxes and other state taxes that are not a part of the RoW rules. To create infrastructure with ease and compatibility, it is important to address these RoW concerns.
Based on a presentation by Debashish Bhattacharya, Senior Director-Policy & Regulation, Broadband India Forum
