Cabinet nod to set up towers

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi

July 24: The Union Cabinet on Thursday has approved a proposal that will permit communication operators including those from the private sector to build communication towers and lay optical fibre cables on defence land in military cantonments across the country, MoD official sources confirmed.

However, these service providers will have to be given licenses first by the department of telecommunications to build, operate and maintain various services including cellular mobile services. The communication operators can then use the defence land for setting up these towers and lay optical fibre cables.

Sources also said that the national capital region of Delhi, for instance, has the highest mobile density of 8 million subscribers and there is an estimated 60 per cent annual growth in this field.