Telcos fight Noida international airport's indoor telecom infra plan

A joint front of Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi) is protesting the Noida International Airport Limited’s (NIAL’s) decision to bypass the telcos in favour of a third-party infrastructure provider installing indoor telecom equipment at the upcoming airport. Earlier this month, the private telcos had protested against a similar move by the Mumbai Metro.

 

In a letter addressed to the NIAL chairman and the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary earlier this week, the telcos cited existing laws that mandate licensed telecom service providers to get right of way (RoW) in public spaces. 

 

Coming up in Jewar in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar district, the airport plans to grant exclusive rights to a third party to install in-building solutions (IBS), that may impose exorbitant charges on telcos for providing network connectivity, the letter said. IBS is designed to improve mobile network coverage and signal quality within buildings, especially where external signals struggle.

 

“Granting exclusive rights to a third party to install IBS infrastructure (active and passive) effectively appoints such an entity as a gatekeeper of RoW and creating a bottleneck. This not only contravenes legal provisions but also creates a monopolistic environment, allowing the third-party to impose arbitrary and exorbitant charges,” the letter sent on April 24 said.

 

If the airport authority appoints a third party, telcos will have to install IBS infrastructure within airport premises that act as a mini tower, boosting signal strength. Telcos, however, are unwilling to pay for the infrastructure. They argue that IBS at public facilities do not yield substantial revenue, and serve a common public need.

 

“RoW permissions in such scenarios should thus be viewed not as a source of revenue by the airport but as a facilitative measure in public interest,” the letter said. It added that no public authority is permitted to charge fees for RoW beyond what is stipulated in the rules.

 

While the airport is still in the process of bringing out a tender to select an infrastructure partner for the purpose, telcos have been raising the issue since August last year, said an official with one of the telcos. “Nowadays, telcos have started jointly putting in connectivity infrastructure at public places which is practical since common infrastructure can be installed.”

 

To do that, the telcos have sought the airport authority’s approval to conduct a joint survey of the premises.

 

Earlier this month, the joint front of telcos had written to the Mumbai Metro stating that it would not be able to provide IBS services at unviable rates offered by the selected infrastructure partner. They had instead proposed to offer connectivity to the IBS network of ACES India Private Limited by installing their own equipment free of cost till the time there was an agreement on the matter.

 

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation had, in 2023, awarded a nine-year contract to ACES to provide mobile infrastructure services, including 4G and 5G services.