According to the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA), telecom infrastructure providers are unable to claim losses from insurance companies following mobile equipment theft.
In a letter to Neeraj Kumar, mission director, National Broadband Mission (NBM), Department of Telecommunications (DoT), DIPA noted that miscreants are stealing telecom operators’ electronic equipments, and battery banks cells, among others, from tower sites.
DIPA estimated that nearly 3,000 battery banks and cells, 450 diesel generators (DGs), and more than 1,500 DG batteries have been impacted due to theft. Further, DIPA’s members have witnessed more than 1,000 incidents of power cable theft on telecom towers, and approximately 350 incidents related to AC/PP/tower theft.
As per DIPA, due to rampant theft at telecom sites, infrastructure companies faced a loss of nearly Rs 1.25-1.5 billion in the last fiscal year, which is increasing day-by-day. These instances of theft are impacting 5G mobile connectivity, as well as, hindering the progress of government programs such as Digital India, National Broadband Mission, and smart cities. In addition, the major impacted states include Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Delhi.
Furthermore, DoT has instructed its enforcement units to alert all state police departments across India to clamp down on the rampant theft of critical network gear that has already triggered around Rs 8 billion of losses for telcos, disrupted 4G/5G expansions and impacted quality of mobile coverage.
