Telcos to have same Cell Towers

Cellphone users across the country, especially in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai, which face heavy network congestion and poor coverage, can look forward to better quality of services.

Cellular industry has finally launched a network infrastructure sharing programme, under which mobile operators will put up their equipment on a single tower.

The move will not only cut down infrastructure costs but also reduce sprouting of 'ugly towers' all around big cities. Besides, it would cut down time spent on seeking permissions and security clearances that each operator requires separately.

India is the fastest growing cellular market adding five million subscribers a month. It has over 100 million cellphone users. Within in a couple of years, the number is projected to more than double.

According to COAI DG TV Ramachandran, India would need 1.4 lakh towers by 2007 and 3.5 lakh towers by 2010, up from 70,000 at present."

To tackle these issues, communications and IT minister Dayanidhi Maran called a meeting of all mobile operators in March to launch infrastructure sharing programme.

On Wednesday, within three months of that meeting, Maran, along with urban development minister Jaipal Reddy and cellular operators, unveiled three 'flagship sites' — Delhi High Court, Rajokri and Dhansa — where up to six operators have mounted their equipment on a single tower. Maran said the industry was looking at sharing about 1,800 sites by next year.