NEW DELHI: Amid growing concerns about the health hazards due to radiation from mobile telecom towers, the communications ministry is looking at ways to develop an alternative technology whereby dependence mobile towers can be brought down and these towers can eventually be phased out.
A draft proposal has been prepared for discussions among the ministries concerned.
“The issues had been discussed internally, following the series of deliberations with various stakeholders and the final decision has to be taken by the Telecom Commission,” said a senior official in the ministry.
However, operators are not happy with this development. According to them, if the Telecom Commission, the policy-making arm of the communications ministry, decides in favour of a phased replacement of mobile towers, it could increase operators’ cost of operations. The additional burden, in turn, may be passed on to customers.
“It is a concern, even the Supreme Court had ruled that a tower of BSNL to be brought down, since it was convinced that radiation from the tower caused health problem to a person who was exposed to it. The telecom firms will have to offer better alternatives,” said N K Goyal Telecom expert.
The tower industry, however, feels such measures will only deteriorate the quality of voice and data. “In- building solutions are complementary and it is parallel to towers; replacing them is not the solution,” said Tilak Raj Dua, director-general of Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association.
The fight over this issue may have an intervention by the telecom regulator soon. Sources in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that the issue is of concern to the larger public and as a regulator, Trai can suggest measures suo-motu.
Can towers be done away with?
Trai is examining the feasibility of dispensing cell phone towers by replacing them with underground cables or other alternative technologies adopted by foreign countries