Towers on govt buildings in Gurugram to boost cell phone network

MCG officials said they have been regularly receiving complaints of poor connectivity from users at MCG offices in Sector 34 and the Civil Lines, the Mini Secretariat, district courts and Vikas Sadan and other parts of the city.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has decided to use government structures, subject to structural stability, for installing mobile towers to address the issue of frequent call drops, officials said on Tuesday. These buildings include government offices, boosting stations, community centres and electricity sub-stations, among others.

The MCG has decided to use government structures for installing mobile towers to address the issue of frequent call drops. These buildings include government offices, boosting stations, community centres and electricity sub-stations. (Parveen Kumar)

MCG officials said that they have been regularly receiving complaints of poor connectivity from users at MCG offices in Sector 34 and the Civil Lines, the Mini Secretariat, district courts and Vikas Sadan and other parts of the city. This prompted officials to explore the possibility of using government structures as sites to establish mobile towers.

“Installing towers on government buildings will be beneficial for the telecom companies and the MCG. The telecom company will pay a specific amount as rent to the MCG, and this will increase connectivity significantly,” a senior official said.

As per MCG officials, telecommunication companies have to pay a monthly rent of ₹50,000-₹1 lakh to the civic body per tower. MCG officials said that regardless of tower’s placement in a building, only the MCG will be the rightful collector of the monthly rent generated.

Civic commissioner Yashpal Yadav directed the engineering wing and the planning department to ascertain the exact number of government structures and mobile towers in the city and simultaneously assess which buildings were sturdy enough to bear the weight of a mobile tower.

“We have provided a list of over 300 government structures to the MCG commissioner. The list includes government offices, boosting stations, community centres, electricity sub-stations, and other such structures. The planning department is also working on submitting relevant details on existing mobile towers in the city,” said ND Vashisht, chief engineer, MCG.

Meanwhile, residents welcomed the move, stating that they have face major inconveniences due to poor connectivity in the city. “On several occasions, I was unable to book a cab from inside the MCG office in Sector 34. Subsequently, I had to walk 50 metres away from the MCG office to catch mobile internet connection. Establishing mobile towers atop government building will help residents who face similar issues across government departments in the city,” said Manish Sinha, a resident of sector 28.

Until March 2018, only 26 of 580 mobile towers in city had licence.

During a meeting in March last year, it was found that multiple agencies were responsible for approving licences, which was leading to confusion and lack of supervision. Subsequently, it was decided that deputy commissioner’s office will approve licences, provided the requisite departments had issued an NOC.

But, it was pointed out that none of the towers had an NOC. Since the Haryana Fire Services Act states that an NOC is not necessary for structures without occupancy, no action could be taken against telecom firms.