Navi Mumbai airport seeks telecom charges in line with Mumbai airport

Navi Mumbai airport has proposed charging telcos for in-building telecom infrastructure at rates benchmarked to Mumbai airport, amid an ongoing right-of-way dispute

After a standoff with telecom operators, Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIAL) has proposed charging telecom service providers (TSPs) for in-building solution (IBS) infrastructure at rates similar to those at Mumbai International Airport (MIAL).

 

In a statement on Friday, NMIAL said it was putting in place a ‘layered strategy’ from ‘aligning telecom infrastructure pricing with established benchmarks’ to ‘deploying on-ground assistance and mobility workarounds’ for its passengers. 

 

This comes at a time when telecom companies have sought the Centre’s intervention over the airport operator’s refusal to grant the ‘right of way’ (RoW) to deploy cellular services-related infrastructure to passengers at the recently-launched airport. 

 

Operators had alleged that they were being forced to mandatorily use a network deployed by the airport.

 

It was described as exorbitant, aggregating to ₹44.16 crore a year, in order to provide cellular services to customers. 

 

“The airport operator has proposed that TSPs be charged for IBS infrastructure at rates aligned with those applicable at MIAL... The move is aimed at strengthening in-building telecom coverage while ensuring consistency with established practices at major Indian airports,” a NMIAL spokesperson said in a statement.

 

NMIA is proposing a monthly per-operator cost of Rs 36 lakh, on account of its greenfield structure, since costs go up by 20 per cent. 

 

Else, the average pay-out in line with MIAL for NMIAL per month would have been Rs 29 lakh. The same is at Rs 69 lakh at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Mumbai (CSMIA).

 

To be sure, the total 4G area coverage at MIAL is recorded at 9 million square feet (sq ft), whereas the same for NMIAL is 3.8 million sq feet. 

 

This rate is expected to be approximately 20 per cent higher for 5G technology as compared to 4G cellular services. 

 

Industry executives belonging to telecom companies told Business Standard that the proposed charges at the CSMIA airport levels were not acceptable.

 

“The charges for CSMIA were high at the time of the agreement. So, NMIAL’s charges cannot be at the levels that are being proposed,” one of the people said.

 

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents all carriers, has written to the department of telecommunications (DoT) stating that NMIAL was statutorily obligated to grant RoW permissions in a “non-discriminatory and time-bound manner for the installation of telecommunication infrastructure, including IBS.”

 

The industry body has stated that NMIAL having exclusive RoW was foreclosing competition, in contravention of the Telecommunications Act, 2023.  

 

Meanwhile, the airport added that it had extended Wifi access to passengers at the airport along with visitors, airport personnel, and cab drivers, among others. 

 

“In addition, physical standees outlining clear, step-by-step instructions have been installed at key locations such as arrival halls, departure zones and terminal circulation areas. To further streamline the process, users can obtain One-Time Password (OPTs) tokens at designated kiosks by presenting valid identification, in accordance with government norms,” it added.