Panaji: Goa government on Wednesday cleared State Telecommunication Infrastructure policy to ensure increased internet connectivity in the state, mostly in the rural areas.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters that Goa Telecommunication Infrastructure Policy 2020 has been approved in the state cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
He said that the state is divided under three segments – rural, semi-urban and urban areas for this policy.
“One time Rs 50,000 will be given to the local bodies as licence fees but there is no requirement of permission from the local bodies to install the towers,” he said.
Sawant said that state Public Works Department will give the permissions.
“Tower and cable fibres would be installed aross Goa. There were 250 applications for towers pending. We will cluster of two-three operators on a single tower,” the chief minister said.
He said that the towers can be installed on various government buildings after getting approval from PWD.
He said that the single window system would be adopted to grant permission for the towers.
“If any company wants to install tower in private property, than NOC of the land owner will be required, before they apply for the permission,” he said.
The chief minister said that the state government has been receiving several complaints about connectivity specially in rural areas.
“We are getting complaints from the people due to unavailability of the connectivity. There are complaints that students cannot study online due to connectivity issues,” he said adding that the policy seeks to address these issues.
