- Friday, May 02, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (Dipa), formerly Taipa (Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association), on Friday (3) expressed disappointment over non-implementation of the recommendations of the country’s Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) since 2015 to better the scope of infrastructure providers.
On August 31, the Train told the department of telecom (DoT) that its recommendations dated March 13, 2020, to improve the scope of infrastructure providers should be decided by the department and the matter should be finalised within a period of three months.
“We thank the Authority (Trai) for once again underlining the need for ‘Enhancement of Scope of IP-1’ and this time prescribing timelines also for its implementation i.e., within 3 months as the same is pending despite numerous follow-ups with DoT,” Dipa director general TR Dua said in a statement.
Infrastructure Providers (IP-1) provide infrastructure assets like dark fibre, right of way, duct space and tower on lease, rent-out or sale basis to telecom operators on mutually agreed terms.
Trai has recommended that the registered IP-1 companies be permitted to own, establish, maintain and work all such infrastructure items, equipment and systems that are required for setting up Wireline Access Network, Radio Access Network, and Transmission Links.
The regulator also advised that the scope of IP-1 registration should include, but not limited to, right of way, duct space, optical fiber, tower, feeder cable, antenna, base station, in-building solution (IBS), distributed antenna system (DAS) etc within any part of India.
According to Dua, once the recommendations are put into practice, it will help in not only addressing the capex and opex requirements but also improving the sector’s financial health.
“Trai has underlined the need for enhancement of IP-1 scope at number of occasions in the past as well, vide its recommendations dated February 2, 2018; March 9, 2018; January 20, 2017; January 6, 2015 etc, however, it is very disappointing that the matter remains unaddressed and yet to see the light of the day,” the statement said.
Dipa said the enhancement of scope of IP-1 is already enshrined and notified in National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018 but “unfortunately, even its implementation has been delayed inordinately by DoT”.
