The industry body representing the Digital Infrastructure providers industry in India called Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) has shown its appreciation towards the Gujarat state government for successfully adopting the RoW 2016 policy in the state. For those unaware, Gujarat has joined the list of Indian states which have issued Right of Way (RoW) rules for easing telecom infrastructure rollout in the state. This move from the Gujarat government is in line with the guidelines issued by the Centre in 2016.
The Importance of the RoW Policy
The Director-General at DIPA, Mr T R Dua in a statement said that the association is thankful to the Government of Gujarat for releasing the long-awaited Gujarat RoW policy. He stated that the telecom infrastructure industry has been playing a vital role in containing the impact of lockdown due to the COVID-19. Dua further added that the adoption of RoW Rules, in Nov’2016 and implementation thereof in a consistent manner in Gujarat will not only streamline hassle-free Right of Way processes but will also result in effective and faster readiness of Gujarat for contributing toward the connected Digital India roadmap.
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.
Seemingly, the Gujarat government understood the significance of the need for creating a robust Communication Technology Infrastructure. As per the policy issued by the state, there will be a one-time fee of Rs 10,000 per application to meet administrative expenses for the installation of the 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 the wheel, microsites, small cells, in-building solutions etc that are essential to improve the digital connectivity across urban municipal corporations and other areas of Gujarat. The Right of way (RoW) rules, notified way back in November 2016, provide for a framework to give approvals for setting up of telecom towers and laying of fibre cables and settle disputes in a time-bound manner.
