Indian mobile carriers scramble as illegal towers are shut down

Apparently the dizzying expansion of mobile coverage in India has proceeded a little quicker than the regulatory process there -- Indian carriers are in a bit of a tizzy after authorities shut down 300 allegedly illegal towers in a suburb of New Delhi called Noida. The gub'mint says the towers are on private land that's not approved for commercial use, but the carriers say the move is "arbitrary and uncalled for," and even "inhuman" because the loss of service means people can't make emergency calls. That's a strong card to play -- let's hope this gets sorted out soon.

[Girish Posted Feb 4th 2010 1:48PM]

It was quiet a site, You could see first hand how much we have come to rely on mobile phones. There was quiet a panic as people weren't able to call up their families.
It was a good social experiment :)

[Bratan Posted Feb 4th 2010 4:37PM]

@Girish
Yes indeed. How did we ever survive before Cell Phones. It's a miracle we are still here :)
But jokes aside, I think it's a serious issue. I wouldn't want to live under a cell tower or have one in my backyard...

[Girish Posted Feb 4th 2010 4:49PM]

@Bratan
No one puts towers forcefully near your houses.
House owners and building owners actually volunteer to get the towers on their buildings so that they can collect rent in tunes of tens of thousands every month.
There's actually nothing wrong in having a cell tower on your building, it's perfectly safe as long as the deployment is done by responsible people and in keeping with the safety guidelines. Plus you get paid for having it.