The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on March 23, 2022 has issued Consultation Paper on “Use of street furniture for small cell and aerial fiber deployment”. The aspects that need to be considered for the deployment of small cells on street furniture, interalia, includes identifying the suitable street furniture based on availability of backhaul and power, deployment heights, load bearing capabilities of street furniture for mounting suitable equipment, scalability, and concerns related to local approvals. Further, some other issues like sharing of the street furniture amongst various users, permissions needed for power supply under state electricity laws, exemptions or bulk permissions for small cell deployment etc. will also requires to be addressed.
With this background, the Authority, through the present Consultation Paper intends to seek the inputs of stakeholders on issues related to outdoor small cell and aerial fiber deployment using street furniture for the successful rollout of next generation networks in the country.
