Telcos fight Noida airport's indoor telecom infra plan

A joint front of Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi) is protesting the Noida International Airport's (NIAL's) decision to bypass the telcos in favour of a third-party infrastructure provider installing indoor telecom equipment at the upcoming airport.

- SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY

Earlier this month, the private telcos had protested against a similar move by Mumbai Metro.

In a letter addressed to the NIAL chairman and the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary earlier this week, the telcos cited existing laws that mandate licensed telecom service providers will get right of way (RoW) in public spaces.

Coming up in Jewar in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddha Nagar district, the airport plans to grant exclusive rights to a third party to install in-building solutions (IBS), that may impose exorbitant charges on telcos for providing network connectivity, the letter said.

IBS is designed to improve mobile network coverage and signal quality within buildings, especially where external signals struggle.