DIPA Applauds Tamilnadu Government To Align with Centre’s Telecom RoW rules
New Delhi: Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA), an apex industry body representing Digital Infrastructure providers industry in India applauds the Tamilnadu government for adopting the RoW 2016 policy in the state. Tamil Nadu has become the 32nd state out of the 36 states/UT’s to issue Right of Way (RoW) rules for easing telecom infrastructure rollout in the state, in line with the guidelines issued by the Centre in November 2016, as per telecom industry bodies.
DIPA represents the telecom infrastructure providers such as American Tower Co., Indus Towers, Summit Digitel (earlier Reliance Jio Infratel), Tower Vision, Ascend Telecom, Sterlite Technologies, Space Tele Infra, Suyog Telematics, iBus networks, V-Con Telecom as well as energy solution companies like Applied Solar Technologies, Coslight.
Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala and the union territory of Daman and Diu are yet to align their rules with the guidelines issued by the Centre to facilitate expeditious rollout of telecom networks.
Mr.T.R.Dua, Director-General, Digital Infrastructure Providers Association, said,” We are thankful to the Government of Tamilnadu for releasing the long awaited Tamilnadu RoW policy . Telecom infrastructure industry has been playing a vital role in containing the impact of lockdown due to the pandemic COVID-19. The adoption of RoW Rules, Nov’2016 and implementation thereof in a consistent manner in Tamilnadu will not only streamline hassle free Right of Way processes but will also result in effective and faster readiness of Tamilnadu for contributing towards connected Digital India roadmap, encompassing programs like Smart Cities and Digital Society. We also thank and applaud Secretary (Telecom), Shri K Rajaraman for the continuous support and intervention in getting the long awaited policy issued.
As per the policy, the state government has fixed a one-time fee of Rs 10,000 per application to meet administrative expenses for the installation of telecom tower deployment. Telecom companies will be charged Rs 1,000 per kilometre for rolling out optical fibre cable (OFC), be it underground or overground.
The policy encourages the deployment of towers, OFC, cell on wheel, micro sites, small cell, in-building solution etc that are essential to improve the digital connectivity across urban municipal corporations and other areas of Tamil Nadu.
The policy also supports the regularisation of the existing telecom infrastructure that will contribute towards the growth of the state.