Ashwini Vaishnaw introduces GatiShakti Sanchar portal for 5G rollout

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw launched the GatiShakti Sanchar portal, which would centralise and speed up approvals for laying fibre and tower installations, boosting the upcoming 5G rollout.

He also stated that a legal framework for the Right of Way (RoW) would be in place by December.

The GatiShakti Sanchar site will make RoW permissions more centralised. The site offers a consistent, integrated, centralised method spanning all states and UTs, as well as Central Government departments, allowing industry to apply for RoW clearances as they create telecom infrastructure, especially for 5G services.

For players, it promises to shorten the time it takes to obtain required approvals, minimise expenses, and make conducting business easier.

Vaishnaw, who launched the webpage, highlighted the importance of legislative protections for RoW, promising that a robust legal foundation would be in place by December 2022.

The RoW provides a framework for granting permissions, resolving disputes, and facilitating collaboration between industry and other agencies when it comes to telecom towers and cable laying.

The RoW laws are now dependent on administrative procedure, and Vaishnaw informed that a robust legal foundation is needed to empower local authorities, offer clarity to the fee structure, and solve accountability.

The new GatiShakti Sanchar platform, which offers a centralised and consistent approach to permits, is planned to considerably simplify the process of RoW clearances for players laying down infrastructure.

Furthermore, the portal's integration with GIS would provide state governments and other organisations with greater insight into existing optical fibre mesh and digital networks.

The time it takes to approve an RoW has already decreased from 100 to 22 days. Once the technological and legal requirements are completed, the 22-day cycle might be reduced to as little as one week in the future.

According to the Telecom Minister, the platform would help achieve the goal of ease of doing business for telecoms infrastructure.

The prompt disposal of RoW apps by various service and infrastructure providers would allow for faster network construction, catalysing the quick deployment of 5G.

The site includes a dashboard that displays the state and district-level status of RoW applications for effective monitoring across the country.

By making the RoW certification process easier, the portal would boost optical fibre cable laying, fiberization, and connectivity tower density, resulting in improved broadband speed and service quality.

The MP State Electronics Development Corporation created the site.

The telecom service providers and infrastructure suppliers would be able to submit their applications through this site, and the authorities would be able to process and issue timely licences for the implementation of digital network infrastructure.

SP Kochhar, Director General of Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), told the media that the goal of this portal is to create a collaborative institutional mechanism for all stakeholders, including the federal and state governments, central land-owning authorities (railways, defence, ports, and others), local governments, and service providers, to make RoW applications and permissions for the deployment of digital infrastructure in the country easier.

He said because of the inconsistency and unpredictability of policies and practices enacted at various levels, the application process for the installation of digital infrastructure is currently being delayed.

To address the problems of implementing the Right of Way Rules-2016, a fast-track application process is required.

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