The State government has formulated the Tamil Nadu Telecom Infrastructure Policy, 2022, aiming at developing a robust and secure state-of-the-art telecommunication network that would provide seamless coverage by easing the process of application, approval and installation of telecom infrastructure.
A G.O. issued by the Information Technology Department recently said the policy was in consonance with Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules 2016 and is applicable to all existing and future telecom infrastructure, which would streamline the process of applications and granting of permission for installation of mobile towers, laying of optical fibre cable and other telecom infrastructure.
The policy aims at increasing mobile telecom penetration in rural areas, providing reliable, affordable, high-quality telecommunication and internet services and providing high speed and high-quality broadband access to the rural areas and adopting green and citizen-friendly telecom sites.
The charges/fee to be levied for giving Right of Way (RoW) permission have also been notified by the State government. For laying Underground Telegraph Infrastructure, every application would have to be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of ₹1,000 a kilometre or part thereof exclusive of taxes. In case of establishing Mobile Tower (Overground Telegraph Infrastructure), every application has to be accompanied by a one-time non-refundable fee of ₹10,000 a tower.
For establishing Overground Telegraph/Optical Fibre Cable line, every application under sub-section of (1) of Section 11 of this Policy, shall be accompanied by a one-time non-refundable fee of ₹1,000 per kilometre or part thereof exclusive of taxes, it said.
“In case of each Wi-Fi antenna or Micro Cell unit with utility box attached to Micro Cell installed on any public land or building including Bus, Shelters, Light Pole, Public Places or other Government premises and Cell-on-Wheels (CoW), a one-time fee of ₹1,000 exclusive of taxes per installation shall be payable,” it said.
