Infrastructure Sharing in Telecom

 With the telecom operators going fierce for fast roll-out of network to be the leader in terms of subscribers, quality of service and revenues, it seems like the status quo in sharing of the infrastructure will lead to big altercation in the whole city landscape. New telecom towers erecting in just few days from new operators (with least frequencies in big cities like Kathmandu), will not only increase the carbon emissions from the gen set used in hundreds of stations, but also questions the sustainability of these small operators in the business. These days, 65-70 % of operator opex goes to telecom infrastructure cost and research says that about 30% capex and 15% opex can be saved from the infrastructure sharing for a telecom operator in wireless. Telecom infrastructure Sharing is relevant in both fixed and wireless but it is much more matured after implementation in wireless and gives significant benefits as huge number of stations are needed. There are many models of infrastructure sharing in developed, developing and poor countries. They differ on the type of resources shared. These resources could be

Active components: like Base station, Radio Spectrum, Microwave Radio equipment, Antennas, Switches, TRx's etc.
Passive components: like Antenna mount, BTS shelter, power supply, inverters, Generator, AC, battery bank...etc.
Transmission backhaul: like Optical fiber, DSL etc for intermediate links from site to a central station where they have access to other Location.

There are many examples here in Kathmandu where two, three mobile towers from existing operators are placed nearby. And for the new operators, they are not building it too far. Especially for the rural telecommunication, the sharing will ease the commissioning for new operators, make multiple operators available there to foster competition. So, if the infrastructure sharing in mobile operators is put on, it will be beneficial not only to environment, operators and customers, but also in reducing the country's digital divide between those who have and have not access to the information, communication technology.

I had seen more than 20 Antennas in a single Tower in India, which is a proof of how fierce they share the passive components, that has made the Indian telecommunication industry, one of the most competitive and fastest growing telecom market and the recent approval of active component sharing by DOT ( Department of Telecom) will make Indian telecommunication industry grow at even much higher pace. Nepal has to learn from this, to enable sharing resources among operators which will be beneficial to them, customers and for the development of a nation. NTA (Nepal Telecommunication Authority) must workout hard for the implementation and regulation of infrastructure sharing. Wish NTA may succeed in implementing Infrastructure sharing in near future before its too late.

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