Defence Ministry eases rules for telecom infra roll out in its area

The Defence Ministry has eased rules for rolling out mobile towers, optical fibre and other telecom infrastructure gears in its area in line with the "Right of Way (RoW)" Rules notified by the Telecom Ministry in 2016.

A copy of the new rules uploaded on Gati Shakti Portal on Thursday replaces "shared communication tower and other telecom infrastructure to extend communication network in military station/cantonments" issued in February 2018.

As per the new rule, "... Any application received for installation of under/overground telecom infrastructure of defence land shall henceforth be processed in accordance with the Indian Telegraph

Right of Way Rules 2016 (as amended from time to time) formulated by the Department of Telecommunications" with some additional conditions.

For installation of telecom infrastructure in areas inside cantonments, the Cantonment Board will have to seek prior No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the organisation under whose management the defence land is placed.

For all locations outside the civil area, Cantonment Boards will seek NoC from station headquarters from security of view, as per the new rule.

The Director General of Defence Estates will develop and maintain an online portal for the electronic application process and integrate the same with the Sanchar Portal of the Department of Telecom.

According to the rule, application of a telecom service provider received on the online portal of GatiShakti Sanchar will be considered deemed sanction on lapse of 60 days.

Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA), Director General T R Dua said the modified policy of the Defence Ministry accomplishes a long outstanding demand of the telecom industry and will provide a big impetus to installation of telecom infrastructure on defence lands.

"This will enable provision of 5G services to persons residing in and close to cantonment areas," Dua said.