Mobile services along border get green signal

Waking up to the need to counter the spillover of mobile phone signals from Pakistan, Bangladesh and China in the country’s border areas...

Waking up to the need to counter the spillover of mobile phone signals from Pakistan, Bangladesh and China in the country’s border areas, the Indian Government has finally decided to allow mobile phone services in the 500-metre-wide No Service Zone along its international borders.

The decision, recently taken by a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) examining the matter, follows weeks of deliberations between the Ministries of Home, Defence, Telecommunications and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).

The ‘invasion’ of the foreign mobile signals had escalated into a security issue and the absence of Indian mobile services along India’s international borders contributed directly to the problem, particularly in Northeastern states like Tripura where SIM cards of Bangladeshi mobile operators were found to be in use.

Several of these states had conveyed to the Centre the sense of exasperation and resentment being experienced by residents of border areas at not being able to access mobile services from their own country, and having to get signals from across the border instead.

Now, the Government has mandated the Department of Telecommunication to allow companies to provide mobile services within the No Service Zone subject to the condition that mobile signals will fade out once the user nears or is about to cross the international border. Also, the service provider will have to ensure that signals become unusable across the border.

Further, the Government has decided to allow mobile phone companies to install Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) within the Line of Control (LoC), Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the international border between Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir and Pathankot, subject to prior approval from local Army authorities about the specific location of BTSs. Until now, this 10-km-wide area along the LOC, LAC and international borders were ‘buffer zones’ where mobile phone companies were not allowed to deploy their cell sites, BTS and radio transmitters. The Army will have the authority to inspect such stations and will also hold the right to shut them down in case of any emergencies.

Meanwhile, since users in border areas cannot be mandated to use only GPS-enabled handsets—which make it possible to determine the location of subscribers—¿the Government has decided not to make it mandatory for service providers to install BTSs with GPS-enabled services.

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Now, the Indian Government is planning to hold a technical-level meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Bangladesh to sort out the problem of spillage of mobile signals in each other’s territories.