Welcoming the Kerala Government's decision to accept the Department of Telecom (DoT) guidelines regarding installation of mobile towers, Indian telecom industry on Monday asked other state governments to follow suit as it would give a boost to the entire information and communication technologies (ICT) sector.
“The move by the Kerala Government is a step in the right direction for the development of ICT sector. India has adopted stringent safety norms for emissions from base transceiver stations (BTS) which is one-tenth of the international standards...The new norms of tower guidelines were formulated after elaborate discussions with all stakeholders including, the state governments and the industry and we find no reason why they should be subjected to further scrutiny and change,” said Rajan S. Mathews, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents GSM operators.
The Kerala government recently adopted the DoT guidelines in its entirety while till now states used to have their separate norms. It accords sanction to telecom service providers (TSPs) to install new towers as per the new guidelines. The DoT has asked states to set up of state and district committees to address public grievances, besides asking the state governments to consult the TERM cells, which monitors functioning of towers, of each circle while formulating tower guidelines, so that the provisions of the central guidelines are adhered to.
Association of United Service Providers of India (AUSPI) Secretary General Ashok Sud said the Kerala government's step would go a long way in further development of the telecom and ICT industry in the state.
Similarly, the Towers and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) Director General Umang Das noted that telecom towers were important infrastructure units of mobile communications and the country must have a unified policy as given in the DoT norms.
“Adoption of central norms will definitely encourage the development of the ICT sector in the area,” he added.
