TAIPA insists other states to emulate provisions of Odisha’s mobile tower policy

NEW DELHI: Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) has hailed the rigorous efforts by Odisha government for notifying one of the most comprehensive mobile tower policy across the nation.

"The recent mobile tower policy addresses the need for provisioning of telecom infrastructure rollout keeping in mind the explosive data growth by extending numerous significant salient features such as provision of micro communication equipment, In-building solutions without any permissions and special provisions for establishing Telecom Infrastructure Tower (TIT)/OFC in Left Wing Extremist (LWE) areas and priority to mobile towers for electricity connections etc," said TAIPA, an industry body representing telecom tower companies.

The Odisha tower policy comprises other key provisions such as no specific restrictions on the mobile tower locations, electronic application and approval process, District and State level committees for addressing public grievances, appointment of nodal officers and documentation process aligned with Department of Telecommunication (DoT) guidelines and Right of Way (RoW) rules 2016 etc.

On the notification of tower policy, Tilak Raj Dua, Director General, TAIPA said “The Odisha tower policy is one of the most comprehensive tower policy across the nation. The policy extensively supports the telecom infrastructure rollout across the state. The policy indeed will be able to address issues such as call drops, network outage and connectivity gaps etc. Through such an enabling policy, the Odisha government has aligned itself with Digital India Mission. Further, other Indian States such as Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra etc. need to emulate such provisions and notify policies for their respective states. TAIPA appreciates the serious efforts by Odisha government for formulating such a supportive and comprehensive policy.”

Telecommunication in India has emerged as a key driver of economic and social development in an increasingly knowledge intensive global scenario. The Indian telecommunication sector has undergone a revolutionary transition in the last two decades to become the World’s second largest telecommunication market with more than 1.1 billion subscribers connected through 4,50,000 towers mounted with over 15 lakh BTSs. As per the government report, the mobile sector’s contribution to GDP which is presently 6.5 percent and will increase to 8.2 percent by 2020.