The three private telcos – Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea – have jointly approached Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) with a proposal to set up common in-building solution (IBS) to provide telecom connectivity at the airport terminal.In a letter addressed to the chairman of NIAL, a copy of which FE has seen, the telcos also urged the airport management to avoid the involvement of a third-party infrastructure provider (IP-1 entity).
Dated April 24, the letter follows a similar proposal sent by the telcos in August last year, to which they claim to have gotten no response from NIAL.The telcos highlighted that the current regulations allow only telecom service providers holding valid universal access service license and spectrum rights are authorised to install and operate active IBS networks.“It is pertinent to highlight that third-party vendors are not permitted to deploy active telecom infrastructure,” they added in the letter.
In the letter to NIAL, telcos warn that having a third-party vendor for IBS in public places like airports can lead to bottlenecks.“Granting exclusive rights to a third-party to install IBS infrastructure (active and passive) effectively appoints such an entity as a gatekeeper of RoW (right of way) 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 fees on TSPs,” the telcos wrote.
The telcos have requested to conduct a joint survey of the airport premises to start the process of installing common IBS infrastructure. The three have carried out a similar activity at the Centra Vistas building in the national capital.
Earlier in the month, the three telcos had written to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) regarding the charges demanded by third-party vendor – Dubai based ACES – to allow telcos access to IBS at underground stations and associated tunnels on the Mumbai Metro’s Line 3.
The telcos claim that the MMRCL went ahead with a third-party vendor despite their (telcos’) offer to install a common IBS network across the Colaba-Bandra-Aarey metro corridor at their own cost.
Estimates put the cost of setting up said telecom infrastructure along Mumbai Metro Line 3 at between Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore. Sources close to the development said that the said vendor is charging more than 80% premium over what it would cost the telcos to deploy the infrastructure.
In both cases, telcos had argued that providing telecom facilities and connectivity to commuters should be seen in the light of public interest, and not revenue generation for any parties involved.