Towering Differences

After the recent dispute between the telecom operators and urban municipal authorities, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is expected to come out with new guidelines for the telecom towers. However, how much the state government would give weightage to the guidelines is again a big question. Further, municipal bodies are also all set to please the telecom operators in the form of higher fees and taxes.

The central government has no say or jurisdiction over the Municipal bodies. To make the state government follow the regulation, the government has to bring a new ordinance and do amendment in the constitution which is least likely, unless the issue is of business interest.

Lion's Share

Municipal bodies have seen this as an another opportunity to make money. Delhi Municipal Corporation is framing new norms for the installation of new towers, meaning a telcom operator has to pay more money in case it is approved by the body. As per the reports, DMC has proposed a plan that includes a usage fee of Rs 3-5 lakh against the current Rs 1 lakh. Interestingly, telecom operators sharing a tower have to pay more if the municipal body has its way. If one provider is using a tower, he will be charged Rs 3 lakh; if two of them share a tower, they will pay Rs 4 lakh and so on.

People associated with the telecom industry recall a similar stand of DMC and NDMC while laying optical fiber in the national capital. The authorities charged the telecom operator laying optical fiber Rs 10 lakh per km for damaging city roads. Interestingly, telecom operator has to repair the road as well, despite paying the authorities.

Further, DMC was also planning to raise Rs 1 lakh per year as the usage of the building will be commercial once the mobile tower has been installed.

Reports say that the municipal body also wants to restrict the installation of towers over a house in residential areas; and have given other options like government buildings, empty plots, nallahs that are covered, etc, for installing towers. It is worth mentioning that residential areas have limited number of government buildings. Further, location is very critical for the installation of the tower and it's a technical decision.

Trai Guidelines

According to Trai's guidelines which is expected in a few months, a rooftop tower may be installed only on reinforced concrete cement (RCC) buildings. A company should get prestigious institutes like the IITs and Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) at Roorkee to design the towers on rooftops. The companies can also follow standards formulated by the Telecom Engineering Center (TEC).

Trai policy will cover issues related to the material and design of buildings.

The telecom companies will have to get the towers painted every year in areas with a highly corrosive atmosphere. The earth resistance of the tower would have to be maintained within the prescribed range and it would be hecked periodically at least once a year.

The manufacturer's identity, year of manufacture and the maximum load that a tower can take would have to be displayed at the bottom of the tower.

The new guidelines would not make much of a difference. However, it will make some sense for the telecom friendly states. At the same time, it would set a benchmark. But, how good it would be for resolving the pending issues is still a big question.

akhileshs@cybermedia.co.in