/vnd/media/agency_attachments/bGjnvN2ncYDdhj74yP9p.png)
The Indian Telecom industry has welcomed the Kerala Government's decision to accept the Central guidelines for clearance for installation of mobile towers in the State and said that the other State Governments can take a leaf out of the Kerala Government's initiative of adopting the Central guidelines in totality.
"The Central norms of tower guidelines were formulated after elaborate discussions with all stake holders including, the State governments, Department of Telecommunications and the industry and we find no reason why they should be subjected to further scrutiny and change," said Rajan S Mathews, Director General, COAI.
Ashok Sud, Secretary General, Association of United Service Providers of India (AUSPI), said, "The decision of the Kerala Government's step is a welcome move and will go a long way in further development of the telecom and ICT industry in the State."
Director General of TAIPA, Umang Das noted that, "Telecom towers are important infrastructure units of mobile communications and the country must have a unified policy as given in the Central norms. Adoption of Central norms will definitely encourage the development of the ICT sector in the area."
The Kerala Government has adopted the guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in its entirety for the state through its order dated 15 March, 2014 and superceeds all earlier orders in this regard.
The DoT had advised all State Governments to take suitable action for the installation of mobile towers by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in line with the guidelines issued by DoT in this regard on 1 August 2013.
Accordingly, the Kerala Government has accorded sanction to the TSPs to install new towers, as per the new guidelines, in accordance with the guidelines issued by DoT. The order regarding the formulation of State and District committees to address public grievances and a nominal one-time fee for issuing permission for installation of towers will be issued separately, from time to time.
The DOT guidelines were adopted after a series of interactions with various stake holders, including State Governments, civil society interest groups and Industry. The guidelines addresses all the issues related to cellphone oeprators, infrastrcutrue providers, State governments and TERM Cell of DOT. Recently, DOT had advised the State giovernments to consult the TERM Cells of each circle while formulating tower guidelines, so that the provisions of the Central guidelines are adhered to.