NEW DELHI: Telecom infrastructure body Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) on Monday said it has urged the power secretary to review the electricity tariff levied on telecom companies across the country in the wake of enhanced capex required for the 5G network rollout.
The association sought an industrial category power tariff on telecom companies as against the commercial category rate levied in most parts of the country. In a letter the association wrote to power secretary Alok Kumar, it said the availability of 5G networks would necessarily require network densification in the form of several low-distance small cells rather than a grand tower or the masts.
“Additionally, enhanced fiberisation is a must for 5G services and to achieve the National Broadband Mission (NBM) Targets of 50 lakh km fiberisation, 70 per cent tower fiberization and 50 megabits per second speed of broadband. This would entail heavy Capex, thus raising the cost of telecom services, leading to a greater digital divide,” DIPA said in a statement.