Telecom operators seek more mobile towers in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Call drops may soon be a thing of the past and 3G connectivity speed may actually improve on mobile phones if the state government pays heed to the pleas of mobile companies.

Telecom operators have submitted a request to the state government, seeking fast track clearances for new tower installations for better service.

Inadequate spectrum and insufficient towers compared to soaring subscriber base has resulted in numerous complaints regarding call drops, non-completion of calls, poor audio quality and other quality of service issues. In fact, call drop among 3G operators is reported to have gone up to 14 per cent in June compared to 9 per cent in March, according to a recent Trai performance indicator report.

Highlighting the infrastructure issues, a consortium of telecom associations, including Cellular Operators Association of India, Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India and Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association have written a letter to state chief secretary Mr Mohan Vargese Chunkath seeking early resolution.

Taking cover behind the PM’s Digital India initiative, the operator consortium has pointed out that state governments and local officials have not been able to devise by-laws and state-specific guidelines which could address the concerns with respect to inadequate telecom network coverage.

The associations have also sought to follow the guidelines regarding installation of towers in line with DOT tower installation guidelines dated August 1, 2013, and want a single window clearance to expedite the permission process in a time-bound manner.

“The industry has, on multiple occasions, highlighted to the authorities the need to have uniform guidelines across all the states to provide permission for installing more mobile towers and Right of Way (RoW) to lay additional optical fibre cable (OFC),” they said.

The operators have sought clearance of pending tower and OFC installation applications on fast track basis. They have formulated norms for easy installation of towers in government buildings. Citing the fibre optic network project, they sought zero RoW charges for laying cables.