India is expected to get 5G networks in 13 select cities by August 15, 2022. While the date likely looks impossible from the speed at which developments are taking place right now, to enhance the role that 5G networks in the county, India is reportedly going to add 8 lakh new mobile towers in the next two years. According to a TNN report, the Indian government is looking to give an aggressive push to the telecom sector by adding these many new towers, which are more than double the current strength. Further, the report mentions that three out of these four towers will be connected through the optical fiber to increase data-carrying capacity. Fiberisation is something that India needs desperately in order for 5G to be successful.
Indian Government Wants 70% of the Towers to be Fiberised by the End of March 2024
Currently, 34% of the mobile towers in India are fiberised. Along with the tower density, the Indian government wants 70% of the towers to be fiberised by the end of FY24. The tower density is also expected to go up from the current 0.4/1000 population to 1/1000 population by the end of March 2024. The government wants to set up a National Fibre Authority (NFA) just like the other regulatory authorities. A boom in infrastructure is very necessary for India to roll out 5G in an efficient manner. It will also boost the 4G services of the telecom operators and help them provide better coverage to users living across the country. But there are a lot of challenges for building the telecom infrastructure, which starts with the Right of Way (RoW) rules and permissions. Many states have misaligned RoW rules from that of the Indian Telegraphy RoW rules 2016. Further, the permissions need to be fast-tracked to ensure the infrastructure can be developed and set up aggressively by the telcos.
