India’s Department of Telecoms (DoT) convened a review meeting with stakeholders to expedite approvals for quick rollout of broadband across country and a top government official said there should be no delay in grant of right of way (RoW) permissions for laying cables.The meeting, chaired by Telecom Secretary K. Rajaraman, was attended by IT Secretaries of various State governments and senior DoT officers.

During the meeting, Rajaraman emphasised that there should be no delay in grant of RoW permissions as it can become a major impediment in growth of communication services.

He stated that there is a direct co-relation between low broadband penetration — the proliferation of which is being pushed aggressively by the PM Modi government — and non alignment of RoW rules in the same States.

The problem could be exacerbated in light of planned 5G rollout in near future, he added.

The DoT Secretary directed all the field units in his department to conduct monthly meetings with service providers to review application approval process and pendency, while pursuing the same with State/municipal authorities.

The various States were requested to facilitate quick action on RoW applications and the State Broadband Committees were also urged to align the State policies with the federal RoW Rule-2016.

The Department of Telecom has taken various initiatives for ease of doing business and to increase the penetration of broadband by coming out with new policies like the National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) and the implementation of the National Broadband Mission, which is expected to catapult India to the next phase of digital revolution, enabling inclusive participation of all citizens to create a truly digital society.

For quick rollout of broadband across the country, it is necessary that the telecom and infrastructure companies are able to lay optical fibre cables and install new towers, which is possible only if State governments and local bodies provide necessary approvals in a time-bound manner, the meeting highlighted.

Accordingly, emphasizing the importance of broadband connectivity throughout the nation, DoT has decided to review the status of grant of such approvals at regular intervals with participation of telcos industry bodies like COAI and DIPA.