Draft rules out for telecom towers, cables in Karnataka suburbs, villages

Karnataka is finalising a set of rules to regulate the laying of telecom cables in rural areas, which will be a crucial step in providing internet and other connectivity services in the suburbs and villages.

No established procedure exists as of now on laying of cables or erecting towers.

Karnataka has notified the draft Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Gram Panchayat) (Telecommunication Infrastructure Tower and Overground Cable or Underground Cable Infrastructure) Bye-laws, 2021. The bye-laws are out for public objections till September 9.

Authorities hope that the new bye-laws will clear bottlenecks, especially with right-of-way issues.

“There were issues with right-of-way, uniform rentals, payment of taxes and also complaints by service-providers that they faced harassment,” Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (RDPR) principal secretary L K Atheeq said.

“The new bye-laws also aim to harmonize the process in urban and rural areas. Plus, we had to streamline this for the ease of doing business,” he added.

“No telecommunication infrastructure tower shall be allowed in the bed of water bodies like river or nala and in the full tank level (FTL) of any lake, pond, kunta lands,” the draft bye-laws state.

Under the new bye-laws, the government will create a single-window online platform to consider applications for erecting towers and laying
cables.

The bye-laws propose a ‘deemed approval’ regime in which applicants seeking permission to erect telecommunication towers or cables will get the nod if the appropriate authority does not accord permission within 45 days.

As per the bye-laws, a survey will be taken up covering all cables laid and towers erected in rural areas as there was no regulation governing this.

The implementation of the bye-laws is expected to smoothen the process of developing digital communications infrastructure in Karnataka, where over 37 lakh, or 40% of schoolchildren, have no internet access, according to government data.