Soon subscribers in Mumbai and Chhattisgarh might fall prey to crackdown similar to the one conducted by the Noida authority, crippling the mobile services in the area.
According to SC Khanna, General Secretary, AUSPI about 60 odd towers in Mumbai and 30 in Chhattisgarh have been sealed and there may be a possibility of more such cases.
Last week the Noida authority launched a clampdown on the "illegal" mobile towers. About 193 of 576 towers have been sealed by the Noida authority citing that these towers, especially in the ones in the residential sectors 29-35 and industrial sectors 2-12 did not comply with the set norms. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has also sealed about 40 towers. Delhi has 4,532 towers out of which 2,517 are reckoned illegal by MCD. However, Delhi has a set policy on towers, which was constituted in 2003.
The two industry bodies – the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Service Providers (AUSPI) have submitted that they need time till TRAI comes up with the recommendations on the tower installation that will be applicable in the entire country. Till then status quo should be maintained.
Mobile towers are most critical for the provision of seamless communication services. Being the backbone of the telecom infrastructure, sealing of any tower breaks the link in the chain, leading to call drops and blackouts resulting in complete breakdown of communication services, the industry bodies said in a joint press statement.
Meanwhile, Indus Towers and another tower company filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court on Monday.
"Since the matter is a state subject, beyond the Centre's jurisdiction, the Department of Telecommunication can not direct the Noida Authority to expedite the action taken against the cellular towers," says Khanna, adding that Telecom Secretary is however going to write the to the Uttar Pradesh Governor.
heenaj@cybermedia.co.in
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