High rise effect: More cellphone towers, high radiation levels

Chennai: The 3G cellphone towers of private and public telecom companies serving in several areas of Chennai are gradually turning out to be ineffective due to the increasing number of high-rise buildings and underground parking lots.

This in future will force telecom companies to increase the frequency of towers resulting in more radiation and there is a need for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to monitor the radiation levels, warned telecom industry insiders adding that in the wake of Chennai metro rail coming up with underground stations new mobile towers with enhanced frequency will soon become a reality.

Former telecom advisory committee member V. Sathiabalan who had also written to BSNL chairman and chief managing director in Delhi complaining how Chennai BSNL was lagging behind private players when it comes to the up-gradation of its towers alleged that the data speed of BSNL is not up to the mark.

“Also, in some places only 2G signals are available. The 3G towers of BSNL serving in congested area are turning out to be ineffective due to the high rising buildings and poor maintenance of existing towers”, Sathiabalan in his letter said. He also told DC that there are a few private players violating the radiation norms fixed by Trai.

BSNL does not fleece the public with hidden charges, but there are issues with the connectivity and this can be improved without increasing the radiation, he added.

“BSNL cannot behave like private operators and we have to follow norms and there is no room to violations and this also affects the performance of our company,” said a BSNL insider adding that the telco was also worried about the increasing number of high rise buildings in Chennai and this will force it to also upgrade and modernize its towers