| DoT mulls single-window clearance |
| Joji Thomas Philip / New Delhi February 06, 2006 |
| Telecom service providers will soon be able to use a single-window clearance system for setting up towers and base stations, and for spectrum. This will lead to a faster rollout of telecom networks across the country. Currently, telecom service providers require as many as 18 separate clearances from the Standing Advisory Committee for Frequency Allocation (SACFA), which includes representatives of the aviation ministry, the defence ministry, the wireless planning cell of the department of telecom, security and intelligence agencies, coastal security and the lighthouse body. Telecom operators said the move was long overdue as a high-level DoT committee had recommended that SACFA clearances be simplified as early as August, 2004. According to sources, the government wants a single-window clearance facility implemented as bids for using the universal service obligation fund for infrastructure sharing in rural areas are slated to be floated in February-end. |
