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    You may soon get some relief from call drops

    Synopsis

    The state government on Monday said it will issue licences for installation of telecom towers within 15 days from the date of application.

    telecom-bccl
    The government will issue licences under Karnataka Installation of New Telecommunication Infrastructure regulations
    The state government on Monday said it will issue licences for installation of telecom towers within 15 days from the date of application. Telecom companies can apply both online and offline for licences. Deputy chief minister G Parameshwar held a meeting with officials to find a solution to the hurdles the telecom firms have been facing to ramp up their infrastructure, which has not been keeping pace with the sector’s growth, leading to call drops and fall in data speeds.

    There are 30,000-plus OFC and telecom transmitters in Karnataka with Bengaluru City alone accounting for 6,766 towers. The tower or telecom company concerned will have to now apply to the authority concerned for a licence to operate them lawfully.

    The government will issue licences under the Karnataka Installation of New Telecommunication Infrastructure regulations. These regulations have been formulated keeping people’s health in mind, among other things. The regulations do not allow telecom towers to come up within 50 metres of schools, colleges, hospitals, and places of worship. Any tower already installed within this distance will have to be shifted by the company concerned to a new place after obtaining a licence. The government has provided three months’ time for shifting such towers.

    The deputy CM has asked officials to clear such requests in 15 days from application. Earlier, officials took about 45 days. The government has fixed a rental of ₹1 lakh for each tower within municipal limits of Bengaluru, ₹35,000 in other city corporations, ₹25,000 in towns and ₹15,000 in gram panchayat limits.

    Lack of clarity on regulations had held up expansion of telecom infrastructure in the city. In fact, the IT/BT department’s ambitious plan to provide wifi in public places in Bengaluru got stuck up at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) doorstep. The lack of clarity on rentals for different types of telecom infrastructure was delaying public internet service.

    Bengaluru has serious site availability and right-of-way issues, and many service providers prefer smaller equipment to overcome this problem. What is critical for service providers is BBMP clearance at the site level. The BBMP local engineer has to inspect the site and allow the installation.

    Honeycomb and D-VoiS have offered to install hotspots at 2,555 locations each in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Kalaburgi, while ACT expressed interest to build wifi hotspots at 1,000 spots in Bengaluru and Mysuru. Indus Towers had proposed to set up the infrastructure at 173 locations, including 140 in Bengaluru. According to government’s plans, members of public will get to use the public wifi free for the first 30 minutes. They will have to pay the commercial rates, as fixed by TRAI, for using the service beyond the free minutes.

    NEW REGULATIONS
    The government will issue licences under Karnataka Installation of New Telecommunication Infrastructure regulations




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