The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday said it is examining a set of concerns raised by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) relating to right-of-way (RoW) access and commercial pricing arrangements in telecom infrastructure deployment for the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIAL).
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event, Anil Kumar Lahoti, chairman, TRAI, said: “Out of the four issues flagged by COAI, three are pertaining to right-of-way. Those are to be dealt under the right-of-way rules.”
On the remaining issue around pricing, he said that so far, commercial arrangements have been governed by market forces, and there has been no necessity of a regulatory regime to control prices.
Regulatory Process Requirements
However, Lohati added that if the matter requires regulation, TRAI is obliged to follow the due process. “As is the legal requirement, we have to prepare a regulatory framework. We will have to get all the data from the service providers, study it, come out with a consultation, then lay a framework,” he said.
TRAI has asked COAI to supply details of past agreements entered into by telcos, which it will examine to determine how to take the issue forward.
The regulator also clarified that pricing, if regulated would fall under TRAI’s mandate and that no specific reference from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is required to pursue the matter based on COAI’s complaint.
Telcos have argued that public private partnerships built facilities like the Navi Mumbai airport represent a growing frontier of infrastructure where private entities are creating bespoke revenue models which impact their access and cost efficiencies. TRAI said it would consider these implications when assessing whether regulatory intervention is warranted.
Connectivity Bottleneck Allegations
Telecom operators have accused NMIAL of creating a connectivity infrastructure bottleneck by restricting licensed service providers’ ability to deploy their own equipment inside the airport, and by mandating a single neutral-host in-building solution (IBS) instead of compete access.
COAI has alleged that charges being levied for using the airport’s IBS platform are disproportionately high.
However, NMIAL has rejected these claims, asserting that mobile connectivity is available across the airport, that BSNL has been onboarded to provide services, and that the neutral-host model and pricing adopted are consistent with industry practice at major airports. The airport operator has also maintained that there has been no denial of RoW access to licensed telcos.