A tower problem for smooth calls over cell phones

Protracted permission process from relevant authorities, few available sites and misconceptions about harm from cell tower radiation have severely held back mobile operators from building new cell towers in Dhaka and other parts of the country. The real sufferers are the mobile service users.

Complaints galore from mobile users which include poor network signal, connection delay and frequent call drops and service providers do not deny these accusations.

Industry people say mobile operators need 500 additional towers (base transceiver station, or BTS) in different spots of the capital to provide the level of service customers expect.

Mobile operators now cannot build towers on their own as the government awarded the job to four tower sharing companies, known as TowerCo (tower collocation), in 2018. The tower companies are given the job to build, maintain and share their towers with mobile network operators for which they charge service fees.

Whenever a mobile network carrier needs to expand service in any location, they have to get in touch with TowerCos for acquiring new sites for setting up towers. Then, tower-sharing companies find legit landlords, sign lease agreements with them and secure permission from the authorities concerned.

But tower operators say it has become very challenging to complete the entire process, a very time-consuming one.

Infograph: TBS

Fixing locations and finding a legitimate landlord to sign a lease agreement in densely-populated urban areas for a new site is a big challenge for tower companies because of previous transference of ownerships, said Ricky Steyn, country managing director at edotco Bangladesh Co Ltd – the largest TowerCo in the country, in a recent interview with The Business Standard.

Besides, some of the chosen locations are owned by the government or other influential people which makes the process much more complex, he said.

Other TowerCos are Summit Towers Ltd, Kirtonkhola Tower Bangladesh Ltd and AB HighTech Consortium Limited.

Seeking anonymity, a high official at Summit Towers Ltd, said getting formal approval from different stakeholders, including city corporations and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to set up a tower, especially in the international border areas, still takes around three months, which earlier used to take six months.

In Dhaka and other metropolitan areas, people's fears about mobile tower radiation and high roof rent charges by landowners are the major barriers to erecting new towers, he also said.

BTRC Vice-Chairman Subrata Roy Maitra told TBS that they do not take time in issuing permission once mobile operators apply.

"There is a specific schedule for issuing permission for setting up a mobile network tower. the BTRC does not take extra time," he said.

The delay in setting up a base transceiver station can be caused by other issues, he noted, adding that a mobile operator and a tower company have been declared significant market power (SMP) to create a level-playing field and make room for other competitors to grow in the industry," he said.

Mobile operators need 500 more towers in Dhaka

Sector insiders say the quality of mobile networks largely depends on the spectrum or frequency and number of network towers.

Due to high user density, the radio spectrum of the mobile network operators have always been inadequate. However, it has recently improved as they procured additional spectrum last March. User occupancy per MHz of the spectrum has reportedly decreased now.

But user occupancy per tower, number of users connected to a specific tower, is still a concern as operators are not getting the required help from the stakeholders concerned.

At present, the largest mobile operator in the country, Grameenphone, has 1,711 network sites in Dhaka city. The operator requires 334 new sites in the capital to provide the best service possible.

Of these, 75 critical locations include government strategic areas, universities, hospitals, city corporation areas etc. where customers are experiencing specially poor network signals.

But the troubles of telecom operators are many in setting up new towers such as delayed response from government authorities and building owners' disinterest and fear of tower radiation, said sources at GP.

Similarly, Robi Axiata Limited, the second largest carrier in the country, also lacks 111 required tower sites in the Dhaka region.

Banglalink and Teletalk also need an additional number of network towers in Dhaka to provide quality mobile communication services, say insiders.

Md Hasan, head of External Communications of Grameenphone, told TBS, "Despite our commitment and capability, we acknowledge specific network experience issues due to complex licensing, ecosystem, and external factors. But we are dependent on other service providers for fibre and towers."

To address coverage gaps and black spots, in many cases, tower companies cannot provide them with towers in the desired locations, he also said, adding, "We have identified around 100 government establishments where towers are needed, but tower companies are not getting permission."

The situation is even worse as misconception about radiation from towers and fears of health hazards in many ways are not allowing them to get new towers and compelling them to dismantle the old ones, he noted.

Sharing the same experience, Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi Axiata Ltd said some operators are reluctant to share their tower infrastructure to stay ahead of the competition, defying the government's policy, leading to a rise in costs.

The quality of network services would improve if the existing towers were shared among operators, he also said.

As per the guidelines, tower sharing is mandatory, he pointed out, adding that stricter vigilance by the BTRC is urgently needed in this regard.

Do cell towers emit harmful radiation?

Misconceptions run rife among people that radiation from cell towers causes infertility in men, birth defects and cancer, although there is no strong medical or scientific proof.

The American Cancer Society claimed that there is no strong evidence that exposure to radio frequency waves from cell phone towers causes any noticeable health effects.

But this does not mean that radio frequency waves from cell phone towers have been proven to be absolutely safe, it also said.

Dr Md Shafiqul Islam, professor of the nuclear engineering department at the Dhaka University, however, said in a recent survey, his team found that the level of radiation in some parameters is higher than the International Telecommunication Union standard.

"Radio frequency is considered as a non-ionised radiation, also known as silent killer. In our research, we have found that there is some parameter in the radio frequency radiation, continuous exposer to such radiation my causes harm for human body," said Md Shafiqul Islam.

Under the survey, Md Shafiqul Islam measured the radiation level of 361 locations of base transceiver stations across the country.

He said the BTRC should monitor and control the radiation on a regular basis.

In 2019, the BTRC conducted separate tests on the electromagnetic radiation transmitted from mobile network towers in Dhaka and Jamalpur.

The regulatory commission found that the electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation in the areas were far below than the standard of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

Within five metres from a tower, the BTRC found that the EMF value was only 0.1061 W/m against the ICNIRP's standard of 2.871 W/m, while the value was 0.0268 W/m in Jamalpur Sadar upazila.

A top official wishing not to be named at the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission also said that they are not seeing any harm with the radio frequency used for mobile signals.