Thomas K Thomas
New Delhi, Aug. 29
In order to extend the benefits of telecom services to naxal-affected areas, the Ministry of Communications has asked the State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd to roll out 500 new base stations across 31 districts in Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The districts being covered include Dantewada, Dhanbad and Singhbum, which are some of the worst naxal- affected areas in the country.
These areas have been neglected in terms of telecom infrastructure development. Chhattisgarh, for example, has a tele-density of only about 5 per cent compared to the national average of 56 per cent.
“The move to roll out mobile infrastructure is part of the UPA Government’s inclusive growth agenda. The link between telecom infrastructure growth and growth in GDP is now well established. Once people get access to mobile services it can uplift their economic condition, which in turn have a long term impact on naxal activities,†said a senior Government official.
The decision to build additional towers was taken after Mr Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications and IT, recently visited some the naxal-affected States.
But the additional towers will still not cover the entire region. There are already about 1,500 mobile towers in these 30 districts covering about 40 per cent of the geography. The additional 500 towers would take the coverage to about 50 per cent. In comparison, a city such as Delhi alone has more than 4,500 towers with as many as nine operators offering services.
But when it comes to States like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh private operators are still lagging behind. “Market potential in tribal areas is lower compared to the metros. But that aside, there are also issues related to security and power supply,†said one of the private players. Most of the tribal areas in districts of high naxal activity do not have regular supply which means operators have to run towers on diesel. While that increases the cost of operations, sometimes reaching diesel to remotely located areas can be challenging.
Nevertheless, some of the new players such as STel, which has licences to offer services in six circles including Bihar and Orissa, are considering this as an opportunity. “The circles that STel is entering in, is where the next wave of growth lies. We are excited to be playing our part in the growth of this critical sector contributing to the country’s economic growth and competitiveness,†Mr P. Swaminathan, Director, STel PVT Ltd, said in an earlier interview to Business Line.
However, other operators do not share the same optimism. In the recently concluded 3G auction, spectrum in Orissa went for just Rs 96 crore compared to Rs 3,316 crore for Delhi. The Telecom Ministry has therefore asked BSNL to also take 3G and broadband infrastructure to these areas