Telecom BTS to face penalty for non-certification: Pilot

NEW DELHI - Telecom and infrastructure companies whose base transceiver stations (BTS) do not have environmental clearance by Nov 15 will face a penalty of Rs.5 lakhs once the government begins random testing of emission levels across the country, Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot said here Monday.

“Telecom companies and infrastructure companies, which own passive telecom infrastructure, have an obligation in meeting the statutory requirement after being partners with the government in accepting and adopting the norms prescribed,’ said Pilot.

The minister stated that all BTS which have not been certified by Nov 15, 2010 or are not compliant face a penalty of Rs. 5 lakhs each. Base transceiver stations are equipments that facilitate wirelss communication between user equipment and a network.

According to Pilot, even though there was no direct evidence of negative health-related implication of these radiations, the government felt self-certification was a basic minimum requirement that telecom companies must adhere to.

There are a total of 5,60,571 BTS mounted on mobile towers for mobile communications in India. Of these 4,16,061 BTSs have been self-certified till date, 4,01,470 had been submitted by Nov 15, 2010, and the rest later, said a statement from the ministry.

Earlier the government had set the deadline of May 15 for the industry to self-certify their BTSs. However, the deadline was later extended to Nov 15.

In India the BTS standards are based on international standards prescribed by the International Commission for Non-ionizing Radiation Protection.