The booming Telecom Industry in India has been one of the key drivers of growth and development in the country. Featuring a wide and robust infrastructure base, a market dominated by competent and competitive players and a growing consumer base, the telecom industry is not only contributing to the overall GDP of the country but also serves as a lifeline that supports all other industries by connecting people.
Over the last few months one of the key issues which have prominently been discussed is the issue faced by consumers on frequent call drops on mobile phones across the country. With reports stating a drastic increase in the number of calls being dropped, large segments of the public have come out in protest across social media platforms and consumer forums to voice their concern over the issue. With the fast paced increase in number of mobile users the issue has become quite severe during the last few months.
One of the reasons behind this persisting problem is, as rightly pointed out by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the inadequate telecom infrastructure network to support of massive communications need in the country. In a recent conversation with the media, the minister re-iterated the fact that there is huge requirement for additional Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) around the country, which will help bolster telecom signals thereby resulting in a significant reduction in call drops.
Already connecting over 900 million lives across the country, through a strong network of communications, telecom towers deploy BTS units throughout India to strengthen the communications infrastructure network. However, the industry is facing challenges due to resistance from public basis their long existing myth around the health hazards that telecom towers cause. Despite the continuous growth and increase in pervasiveness of mobile networks over the last decade, the constant myth surrounding radiation has seriously hampered the potential to expand connectivity. The general public has developed a cautious attitude towards EMF waves due to their beliefs of its harmful effects.
This perception problem has regularly been a hindrance for expanding communications infrastructure in the country, with locals and residents of various regions frequently protesting against new installations due to the fear of radiation. The core of the issue is that - to address the problem of call drops, more towers need to be deployed in order to give the users seamless good quality connectivity; but the hesitation from the public itself on putting up the towers is resulting in this problem.
However, as mentioned by Honourable Minister of Communication, the talks about harmful radiation are but matters of myth. As pointed out by him, according to a recent study carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO), radiation from towers is hardly harmful. Moreover the government has set specific guidelines regarding limits to the radiation emitted from such towers, and India has some of the lowest permitted levels in the world.
The issue has also been taken to courts, and many court judgements have also quashed the unfounded myth about EMF from telecom sites being harmful:
The primary way to go forward from here is to quell the fear of radiation from the hearts and minds of the people. Only when the myth around radiation is resolved will people be open to the expansion of telecom infrastructure, which in turn will strengthen the network for all operators across the country reducing the rate of call drops significantly.
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With 3G/4G and Broadband, over mobile becoming the next revolution as well as a catalyst for growth for the Indian Telecom industry and our economy it is inevitable that we improve the communications infrastructure across the country providing better connectivity hence better service to all.
(Sameer Sinha is chief sales and marketing officer at Indus Towers Limited.)
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