Indian Telecom industry seeks incentives to go green
Neha Kohli & Joji Thomas Philip
Times News Network /January 10., 2007
Source: Econonic Times
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Telcos_seek_incentives_to_go_green/articleshow/1115610.cms
NEW DELHI: The energy-intensive telecom industry has sought subsidies for use of green energy on telecom sites. Telecom giants, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, VSNL, Tata Teleservices and BSNL, have sought reduction in levies on solar equipment. They have also demanded land at concessional rates for operators who use renewable sources of energy for powering their base stations, telephone exchanges and repeaters. The demand for incentivising green energy stems from the need to have back-up facilities for continuous power supply at telecom sites.
With the telecom network spreading at a rapid pace amidst power scarcity in the country, especially in rural areas, alternative sources of energy such as solar energy need to be explored, said Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the body representing all GSM operators.
“The Capital expenditure involved in setting up non-conventional energy infrastructure should be fully subsidised by the appropriate authorities. Even after that, the operations and maintenance expenses will be borne by the service providers,” COAI added.
The Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI), the body representing CDMA players, has demanded a slew of incentives to encourage telcos to go green — these include reduced levies and duties on equipment, tax incentives and land at concessional rate to operators who use renewable forms of energy.
“In areas with minimal access to electricity, the government should provide free solar cells from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to run the mobile services,” AUSPI added. All operators pay 5% of their total revenues towards USOF, which is used to subsidise telephony services in rural India. The Tatas, both VSNL and Tata Teleservices, in their correspondence with Trai have endorsed the AUSPI stance. Reliance Communications has said that numerous incentives, which are provided by the central and state governments for use of non-conventional sources of energy, need to be extended to the telecom sector also, especially to operators who use solar cells, wind energy and green shelters.
Green shelters, which are made of thermal batteries, filterless air conditioning and reflecting enclosures conserve up to 35% of the annual power consumption in cell sites. Similarly, Bharti Airtel has said that lesser radio frequency, GHG emissions due to fewer sites and renewable energy technologies would add to the overall benefits and enhance the corporate reputation.