Telecom regulator Trai on Friday recommended that telecom operators and telecom infrastructure providers be mandated to share in-building infrastructure with other telecom operators in large public places, commercial complexes and residential complexes in transparent, fair and non-discriminatory manner.
“An effective telecommunications infrastructure is an essential component of any building for its connectivity to the outside world. Telecommunications services such as voice, data and wideband multimedia services are indispensable in the modern society. In order to improve inbuilding coverage and to offer quality high data rate services, installation of in-building solutions (IBS)for wireless services and laying of cables such as copper cables, optical fibre cables (OFC),LAN cables etc. is required,” the regulator said.
The in-building infrastructure includes distributed antennae systems, optical fibre/copper cables and ducts.
The regulator said in its recommendation released on Friday said that indulgence into exclusive contract prohibiting access to other TSPs may be treated as violation of the license agreement / registration. It added that suitable provisions for the creation of Common Telecom Infrastructure (CTI) inside the building should form part of the Model Building Bye-Laws.
The essential requirement for telecom installations and the associated cabling should be formed part of National Building Code of India (NBC), being amended by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the regulator added.
“Completion certificate to a building to be granted only after ensuring that the CTI as per the prescribed standards is in place. Access to building including CTI facilities be available to the TSPs on a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner and minimum three TSPs/IP-Is should have presence in the building,” Trai said.
The recommendations to the telecom department (DoT) were made after Trai floated a paper on June 6, 2016, to seek views from industry stakeholders on whether telecom infrastructure sharing should be made mandatory for operators within residential and commercial complexes, airports, malls and hotels to create an ecosystem of voice, data and wideband multimedia.
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The DoT will now take a final decision on the suggestions. It may also send the recommendations back to Trai for clarifications.
