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Several states have agreed to adopt the Centre’s right of way (RoW) rules, a development that will allow faster rollout of fibre and installation of mobile towers.
While some states and Union Territories (UTs) including Goa, Chandigarh and Arunachal Pradesh have onboarded the Centre’s Gati Shakti Sanchar portal, others such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi have expressed their intention to join, said officials.
It comes after a letter from the telecom secretary, Neeraj Mittal, in November last year to all states and UTs in the country to follow the RoW rules notified under the Telecommunications Act, specifying that there was no need to go through the adoption process.
Earlier, the RoW rules required adoption from each state and the charges levied by different states used to differ. But the new rules, which came into effect from January 1, have to be uniformly executed by all states, giving a boost to telecom operators and infrastructure providers in maintaining and installing telecom towers and laying optical fibre.
While the rules are framed by the Centre, the states have to adopt them, so that there is uniformity across the country. Getting RoW permissions and installing towers have been perennial problems for telcos, particularly in places such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, where there are multiple municipal corporations.
For instance, in Delhi, NDMC, MCD and Delhi Cantonment Board used to have their own policies and rates pertaining to installation of telecom infra. But now the Delhi government has adopted the new RoW rules, allowing telcos to put up sites and lay fibre at uniform rates.
The new rules are expected to streamline the deployment of telecom infrastructure, facilitate faster rollout of 5G networks and be a game changer for the industry, said experts.
According to the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association, key highlights of the rules include introduction of a simplified process for obtaining RoW permissions, with clear timelines for public entities to respond to applications. The rules set maximum limits on various charges, ensuring predictability and affordability for telecom providers.
There are special provisions for the installation of small cells on street furniture, facilitating the densification of networks crucial for 5G and beyond.
The new rules also state that there won’t be any fee for establishing a temporary overground network.
The RoW rules will allow licensees to set up temporary overground telegraph infrastructure when their existing underground infrastructure is damaged, and no fees will be charged by the authorities for this.
The move will help restore telegraph services on priority, thus preventing major disruptions in services to the users, say experts.
All applications and communications will be processed through a digital portal, enhancing transparency and efficiency.
