THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has been sitting on a long pending demand of mobile service providers for a single-window clearance facility for setting up of towers, especially to ensure uniformity in the norms being followed for setting up towers. Industry sources said that even as the operators identify spots for towers following the specified norms, the local bodies often deny permission taking into consideration protest by local people citing undue health hazards. Hence. the mobile operators suggested a single-window facility so that there would be uniformity in the norms.
“Many states are easing the procedures for setting up telecom infrastructure as it is the backbone of the future development. But in Kerala, despite being the state with the highest mobile connections of 4.25 crore, the mobile service providers are literally struggling to set up towers. With the Centre imposing fines for mobile call drops, the service providers are under stress to improve connectivity,” top official of a mobile service provider said.
Apart from various mobile service providers, the Cellular Operators Association of India, had also sought a state-wide single window procedure. Though the government also held discussions with the operators on the matter, it was kept in the cold storage. “At present there is no plan for a single window facility for sanctioning mobile towers,” said a senior IT department official. The state government’s recent decision to set up shared mobile towers on government building is, however, a positive move towards relieving mobile operators from difficulties in setting up towers, he added.
The state has the highest number of mobile connections of 4.25 crore. At present the state has only 16,000 towers with 84,000 base transceiver station (BTS). One tower shared by BTS of many operators. Industry sources said that most difficulty in getting sanctions for new towers was felt in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. At present there are only 1,800 towers with 8,500 BTS in Thiruvananthapuram and 2,100 towers with about 10,000 BTS in Ernakulam. The Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring of Department of Telecommunication is continuously monitoring radiation levels from towers across India on a routine basis. It is also publishing the levels on the website tarangsanchar.gov.in.
