PMO to DoT: Allow telecom towers in hospitals

MMUBAI, INDIA: Henceforth, hospitals in Delhi and NCR will have better connectivity.

The directive has come from none other than the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which has asked the local authorities to enable telecom operators to set up telecom towers in hospitals.

“It has been brought to the notice of this office that patients and other visitors to hospitals, particularly in Delhi, are finding it difficult to communicate through mobiles due to poor connectivity,” a PMO note to DoT states.

This means that the ratio of call or video conferencing call drops will reduce significantly.

IANS reports that as a follow-up, a memo from the telecom department mentions that hospital authorities permit telecom service providers (TSPs) to install base towers and other infrastructure, and also charge nominal rates, without treating the process as a means for revenue generation.

“Hospital authorities should readily permit all the TSPs on equal terms to install the necessary telecom equipments in the hospital premises so that all the visitors to hospitals, having mobile phones from any of the operators, would get proper coverage,” the memo states.

In its directive based on the PMO memo, the telecom department also made some observations.

“As the hospital premises are generally large and the building structures are complex, indoor coverage issues in hospitals are inevitable. Installation of in-building solutions (IBSs) within the hospital buildings is the most effective method to improve indoor coverage,” the memo says.

“Hospitals should provide the necessary infrastructure at nominal/reasonable rates. Provisioning of infrastructure and the permission for installation of in-building solutions (IBSs) and base transceiver stations should not be used as a means to generate revenue by the hospitals,” it says.

However, there can be practical difficulties. As Rajan S Mathews, Director General, Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) points out, the only way the problem of poor connectivity can be solved is when state governments permit cell towers near the hospitals.

This is because experts have expressed concern over health effects of electro-magnetic radiation from mobile towers, also allayed by the World Health Organisation.