Telecom Regulatory Authority of India wants telecom operators to share infrastructure

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has said in a recommendation that the telecom operators in the country should be allowed to share their infrastructure.

They have now asked the department of telecommunications (DoT) to allow operators to share active infrastructure and backhaul networks.

This would require them to amend the licensing conditions for the telecom operators in the country. This amendment is however not likely to include spectrum sharing and mobile virtual network operators.

TRAI said that they are in favor of sharing of resources like antennas, cables, filters, and transmission systems. They are hoping that this proposal would help operators cut down on procedural matters and lower costs.

They estimate that the Indian telecom market would require about 3.3 lakh towers by 2010 against the present 1 lakh. And it would be better to have an infrastructure sharing mechanism in the country to support this requirement.