The Department of Telecom (DoT) has asked the Delhi government and the local municipal bodies to allow for the installation of mobile towers. The move comes after numerous complaints from telecom operators blaming the shutting down of such sites as the main culprit behind the call drop crisis.
Network providers had previously sought the help of the DoT and TRAI following the sealing of cell towers by 3 Municipal Corporations of Delhi last week. The Telecom ministry seems to have responded quickly to their pleas and has requested the BJP, which controls the MCD, to look into the re-instating of current towers and the setting up of new ones.
Rakesh Garg, the Telecom Secretary, met with Delhi Chief Secretary KK Sharma on 15 September to discuss the issue. As per the PTI report, he put across the fact that mobile towers do not transmit harmful radiation and the administration should permit its installation on government buildings. TRAI recently passed a decree letting such sites to be put up on municipal structures.
The top 6 network companies in India recently wrote a joint letter to the DoT conveying their side of the problem. According to them, for every 40 locations being shut down, there was a 20% increase in call drops, on average. They claimed the MCD had sealed 16 sites in Delhi within the span of a week and over 70 in the past month.
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Telecom operators have gone on record before blaming the two-fold increase in the crisis on the illegal shutting down of mobile towers and the influence of resident welfare associations (RWAs), who demand its removal based on radiation fears. The providers now have just over a week to improve their infrastructure before facing a performance review by TRAI.