Amended RoW Rules 2023 to expedite 5G deployment in India: COAI

The recent amendments made in the Right of Way rules for telecom infrastructure will expedite the 5G rollout in the country and enhance the ease of doing business, industry body COAI said on Friday.

The latest amendments provide for a single application for multiple small cell sites and allow licensees to set up temporary overground telegraph infrastructure when their existing underground infrastructure is damaged, among other relaxations. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), whose members include Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea etc, said that the provision would help restore telegraph services on priority, thus preventing major disruptions in services to the users.

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The centre has directed that no fees will be charged by the appropriate authority for this temporary setup. “It will enable rapid network reinstatement in the event of underground telecom infrastructure damage, expedite 5G roll out by utilizing the state’s existing infrastructure, simplify application procedures for multiple small cell sites and allocate Central government areas for small cell deployment at no cost,” COAI Director General S P Kochhar said. The COAI said that the recent amendments are in continuation to the earlier amendments made in 2017, 2021 and 2022, for further facilitation of rolling out robust telecom infrastructure in the country.

“The amendments add to the many steps initiated by the government to facilitate Ease of Doing Business in the sector and will support the industry in further enhancing and maintaining the networks in a much speedier manner,” Kochhar said. The amendment also adds clarity in the regulations itself, on the definition of street furniture, which means post or pole used for electricity, streetlight, traffic light, traffic sign, bus stop, tram stop, taxi stand, public lavatory, memorial, public sculpture, utility pole or any other structure or contrivance of such nature established over the property of an appropriate authority, which will aid in faster rollouts and more efficient network deployments, COAI said.