Telecom firms, Navi Mumbai airport operator lock horns over network access

A battle is brewing between the country’s leading telecom services providers (TSPs) and Adani group-run Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL), with the telcos seeking the Department of Telecommunications' (DoT's) intervention over allegations that they have been denied “right of way” at the airport and are being forced to mandatorily use a network deployed by the airport operator at what they describe as “grossly exorbitant and untenable” charges aggregating to ₹44.16 crore a year to provide services to customers.

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

An NMIAL spokesperson rejected the claims, saying telecom operators had not been denied “right of way” and that discussions had been held with them, including an offer for in-building solution (IBS) services at charges in line with prevailing industry standards, to which the telecom companies had not responded. “We welcome individual TSPs to discuss and mutually agree on rates. However, we will not give in to cartelisation in this regard,” the spokesperson said.

The telecom industry’s apex body, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), representing Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, has argued in a recent communication to the DoT that under the provisions of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, and the Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules, 2024, the new airport qualifies as a “public utility.”