Delhi government releases RoW policy to expedite deployment of telecom infrastructure

The Delhi government has released its right of way (RoW) policy 2023, in alignment with the Central RoW rules, to expedite the deployment of underground infrastructure and overground telecom infrastructure.

“This Policy may be called the “Delhi Right of Way (RoW) Policy for Underground Infrastructure and Over-ground Infrastructure, 2023. It shall extend to the whole of the NCT of Delhi. This Policy shall also be applicable in respect of area under the Delhi Cantonment Board to the extent it does not contradict the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Defence, Government of India,” the Delhi government states in its ‘extraordinary’ gazette, dated November 1, 2023.

For the implementation of this policy, the Urban Development department of Delhi has been named as the nodal department and it shall provide clarification and/or instructions from time to time to overcome the difficulties in the implementation and/or upgradation of the above policy.

“Further, the implementation of this policy shall be done by every concerned appropriate authority/local body through a designated nodal officer. Pr. Secretary/Secretary (UD), GNCTD shall be the nodal officer for overall coordination for the purposes of this policy,” the gazette states.

Notably, the Delhi RoW policy of 2023 aims to facilitate the deployment of micro-communication equipment/pole on any structure or building, regardless of its specified usage, and also seek to encourage the deployment of in-building solutions (IBS).

The policy also mentions the guidelines for the usage of street furniture for installation of small cells and telegraph lines; establishment of telegraph infrastructure over private property; usage of ducts for installing optical fiber cables (OFC), among others.

To recall, the Department of Telecommunications had notified the RoW Rules, 2016, and subsequent amendment of the same in the year 2022 for both overground and underground telecom infrastructure.

“This is a forward-looking and reformative comprehensive policy to transform Delhi into a digital society enabling futuristic technologies such as expansion of 5G, fiberisation, cloud computing, the blockchain, M2M, IoT, AI, and VR etc. The alignment of the State’s policy on Telecom infrastructure in alignment with RoW guidelines is a critical enabling factor not only for hastening telecom infrastructure but also for making citizen’s life easier,” said T. R. Dua, Director-General, Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA).