Lok Sabha Question No. 4725 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-29
Subject: TRAI
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Ravneet Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4725 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29 TH  MARCH, 2023

## TRAI

## 4725.   SHRI RAVNEET SINGH BITTU:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released its recommendations recently on 'Ratings of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity';
- (b) if so, the details of the recommendations given in the report of the TRAI;
- (c) whether the TRAI has recommended for making digital infra mandatory in building plans;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e) whether the Government intends to implement the recommendations of the TRAI and if so, the  likely  date  by  which  these  recommendations are  proposed  to  be  implemented  and  if  not,  the reasons therefor??

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) & (b) Sir, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released it's recommendations on 'Ratings of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity' dated 20.02.2023 as detailed in the Annexure.

(c) & (d) Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  has  recommended  that  Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (DCI) should be an essential component of the building development plans,  on  the  lines  of  water  supply,  electrical  services,  gas  supply,  fire  protection  and fire  safety requirements, etc.

- (e) The said recommendations of TRAI are under examination of the Government.

## TRAI Recommendations on 'Rating of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity' dated 20.02.2023

1. Model Building Bye-Laws (MBBL) and National Building Code of India (NBC) should be amended to incorporate necessary provisions on Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (DCI) as recommended herein.
2. DCI should be made an essential component of the building development plans, on the line of water supply, electrical services, gas supply, fire protection and fire safety requirements, etc.
3. In case of development of Buildings in rural, semi-urban, remote and hilly areas, etc. where MBBL is not directly applicable, the Government may work with State Governments/ UTs for incorporation of suitable provisions for DCI development in the respective bye-laws or other relevant laws of the State Governments/ UTs.
4. As RERA act protects the interests of the consumers of the real estate sector and provides platform for speedy disposal of their disputes, that provisions for mandating DCI inside the Buildings, its  maintenance, timely upgradation, etc. should be incorporated in the builderbuyer agreement for covering it under the jurisdiction of RERA act and its enforceability by the RERA.
5. The actors to design, deploy and evaluate the DCI should include the Property Manager and DCI Professionals i.e., DCI Designer, DCI Engineer and DCI Evaluator, where:
- a) The Property Manager is the person or body who is responsible to oversee and manage the development, operation and maintenance of a Building and has the authority either as owner(s) of the Building or as an agent of the owner(s). The term "Property Manager" would include an owner or a developer or a builder of a real estate project(s) or an area(s) responsible to plan, design and build facilities like Multi-storey residential buildings, Commercial buildings or complexes, etc.
- b) DCI  Designer  is  a  professional  who  has  the  competence  and  possesses  prescribed qualifications to design DCI for Buildings.
- c) DCI  Engineer  is  a  professional  who  has  the  competence  and  possesses  prescribed qualifications to implement the DCI designed for Buildings.
- d) DCI  Evaluator  is  a  professional  who  has  the  competence  and  possesses  prescribed qualifications to measure and evaluate the quality of the DCI deployed inside Buildings.
6. Any person who possesses the requisite skills, as may be prescribed, can perform the functions as DCI Designer or DCI Engineer or DCI Evaluator.
7. A  separate  chapter  should  be  included  in  MBBL  on  comprehensive  framework  for development of DCI.
8. The Bureau of  Indian  Standards  (BIS)  should  be  tasked  to  review  existing  standards  and procedures of DCI for Buildings.
9. The "National Building Code Sectional Committee" constituted under NBC, also referred as Guiding Committee should include members from the Department of Telecommunication and Telecom Industry.
10. The Panel on 'Information and Communication Enabled Installations' under NBC (Volume II, Part 8, Section 6) should be expanded to include representatives from Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) and Telecommunications Standards Development Society India

(TSDSI) and, experts on telecom RF planning and experts on digital modelling of Buildings. The convener of this panel should be the representative nominated by DoT.

11. On standards for products and procedures for DCI,
- a) the BIS should prescribe and update standard templates which will be used by Property Managers for collecting building-related information and connectivity requirements of users. In case of non-availability of data from the users, the Property Manager shall use the data available for similar Buildings. Data collected through such templates shall be used by the DCI Designers.
- b) the standards and procedures framed, and templates prescribed for DCI by BIS should be made part of the National Building Code (NBC).
- c) TEC should continue to work as the equipment standardisation and certification agency for standard products and equipment required for DCI.
- d) TEC should prescribe necessary specifications in respect of new products required for upgradation of DCI.
- e) TEC  should  also  ensure  that  the  certified  products  for  DCI  are  shareable  and interoperable.
- f) TEC  should  enlist  and  publish  such  DCI  products  and  equipment  which  require certification.
12. The BIS should prescribe different standards for different classes of Buildings for DCI.
13. Further,  the  BIS  should  also  prescribe  such  provisions  of  DCI that  would  be  mandatorily required  (essential  requirements)  to  be  completed  for  issuance  of  completion/occupancy certificate for Buildings.
14. The Property Manager shall be the owner of the deployed DCI whether created by himself or through his agent and shall be responsible for maintenance, expansion and upgradation of such DCI. The Property Manager shall allow access of DCI to all service providers in fair, non-chargeable, transparent and non-discriminatory manner and shall not have any exclusive arrangements or agreements with any infrastructure/service provider. Provided that in case active  wireless  equipment  is  installed  by  a  licensee,  the  licensee  will  be  responsible  for maintenance, expansion and upgradation of such DCI and to that extent, the ownership lies with that licensee. However, this installation of active wireless equipment will be carried out on behalf of the Property Manager and Property Manager shall be responsible for ensuring that the licensee compulsorily gives access of such active wireless equipment to all service providers on fair, transparent, non-discriminatory, and nonexclusive manner.
15. Further,  an  amendment  to  the  present  Unified  license  conditions  with  a  proviso  for compulsory sharing of active wireless equipment in the Buildings may be carried out.
16. The  revenues  earned  by  sharing  of  active  wireless  equipment,  as  part  of  DCI,  by  lessor licensees should not attract License Fee (LF). For the same, such revenues should be reduced from the Gross Revenues (GR) of the lessor licensee to arrive at Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR)  of  such  lessor  licensee.  To  implement  above  recommendation,  it  is  further recommended that, a new item named as "Revenue earned from other licensees from sharing of active wireless equipment, as part of DCI" should be inserted under the license provisions namely  "List  of  other  items  to  be  excluded  from  GR  to  arrive  at  ApGR".  It  is  also recommended that, appropriate modification may be carried out in UL, UL(VNO) and ISP licenses. Also, the information collected in "Format of Statement of Revenue and License Fee" that is attached with each authorization chapter in UL, UL(VNO) and with ISP licenses needs to be modified to capture information from such revenues under a separate head.

17. For  existing  Buildings  where  DCI  is  partly  created,  a  collaborative  approach  among stakeholders to decide ownership i.e., Property Manager for development, upgradation and expansion of DCI. However, in cases where DCI is developed by a service provider/ IP-I(s), till no suitable arrangement is worked out to transfer the DCI to the Property Manager, such service  providers/  IPIs  shall  be  governed  by  the  mandatory  provisions  of  the  license/ registration conditions.
18. The "Use of Street Furniture for Small Cell and Aerial Fibre Deployment" wherein it was recommended that "enabling provisions or suitable terms and conditions shall be introduced in all telecom licenses and IP-I registration agreement prohibiting the TSPs/IP-I providers from entering into any exclusive contract or right of ways with infrastructure owners/CAAs or any other authority".
19. In  case  of  introduction  of  new  spectrum  bands,  change  in  technologies,  increased  users' demands etc.,
- a) DoT  should  take  up  with  BIS  and  MoHUA  for  incorporation  of  amendments  in National Building Code and Model Building Bye-Laws, respectively.
- b) BIS should also prescribe essential provisions that would be required to be carried out by Property Manager for upgradation and expansion of DCI.
20. The  MBBL  should  have  appropriate  provisions  for  the  approval  of  upgradation  and expansion of DCI.
21. The Property Manager should ensure upgradation and expansion of DCI in the timeline as will be prescribed in the MBBL.
22. In  all  existing  Buildings  owned  by  the  Government,  PSUs  or  autonomous  bodies  of  the Government, commercial buildings and public places such as airports, ports, railway stations, bus  stations,  metro  stations  or  any  other  Building  as  may  be  decided  by  MoHUA  in consultation with DoT, DCI shall be upgraded or provided to meet the requirements of stateof-the-art  digital  connectivity.  In  such  cases,  the  building  bye-laws  should  prescribe  a reasonable time frame so as to ensure availability and accessibility of upgraded DCI.
23. The  existing  Buildings  other  than  those  mentioned  in  recommendation  no.  22,  the  new building bye-laws should be issued by MoHUA within three years after due consultation with the various stakeholders. Till then, the Property Managers of such existing Buildings shall implement the new bye-laws voluntarily.
24. The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 should be amended as follows:
- a) The Central Government may prescribe through rules for formation of Council of Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (CoDCI).
- b) The  rules  may  specify  the  manner  of  certification  of  persons  to  design,  deploy  and evaluate DCI.
- c) Such rules may specify the qualification of and terms and conditions subject to which, such  certification  may  be  granted,  including  through  conduct  of  examinations  for granting such certifications, the fees and charges to be paid thereof, and other connected matters.
25. A Council of DCI (CoDCI) should be established under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communication in collaboration with the Ministry of  Housing  and  Urban  Affairs  (MoHUA),  All  India  Council  for  Technical  Education (AICTE),  National  Skill  Development  Council  (NSDC),  Telecom  Sector  Skill  Council (TSSC), and Construction Skill Development Council (CSDC) or any other

organisation/institution as deemed appropriate. The CoDCI shall be responsible for taking all decisions in respect of certification, registration and capacity building of DCI Professionals.

26. The broad roles and responsibilities of CoDCI are as follows:
- a) To prescribe the qualification, roles and responsibilities of DCI Professionals.
- b) To  study  the  content  of  existing  similar  courses  within  and  outside  India  and  their suitability for DCI Professionals in India.
- c) To suggest appropriate Graduate and Diploma courses including elective/ certification courses at various levels for DCI Professionals.
- d) To accredit institutes and organisations for offering courses related to DCI. Considering that there are large number of Buildings in each State and UT, there may be a requirement of accreditation of institutions across all States and UTs for offering such courses and development of the workforce.
- e) To conduct examination and certify DCI Professionals.
- f) To organise training for trainers and skill upgradation of DCI professionals.
- g) To register qualified and certified DCI Professionals, on similar lines to the CoA. Such Professionals once engaged by Property Managers for development of DCI and declared on their plan documents shall be Persons on Record.
- h) To maintain a register of DCI Professionals and publish the same on online portal for access and use by various stakeholders.
- i) To keep a track of various activities related to capacity building and dissemination of the information to all stakeholders, the council needs to develop a digital platform for the cohesive implementation of DCI and linking of the same with various agencies.
- j) Any other work related to capacity building as deemed fit by the council.
27. The  CoDCI,  within  one  year  of  its  establishment  or  three  years  from  the  date  of  these recommendations,  whichever  is  earlier,  should  establish  a  mechanism  for  certification, registration  and  capacity  building  of  DCI  Professionals  including  setting  up  of  digital platform for the cohesive implementation of DCI.
28. The time CoDCI is established, the provisions in new building bye-laws for DCI herein must be implemented by utilizing the services of the existing professionals already working in the field of design and development of Buildings and DCI.
29. The digital platform should be developed and maintained by CoDCI. The broad objectives of the digital platform include but not limited to the following:
- a) Activities related to capacity building of DCI Professionals:
- i. Publish  details  of  the  courses,  accredited  institutions  and  the  process  for admissions, and applicable fee structures if any.
- ii. Facility for conducting examinations for certification of DCI Professionals.
- iii. Registration facility for certified DCI Professionals.
- b) Publish the list of registered DCI Professionals and certified products and tools.
- c) Provide a marketplace for buying and selling of certified products. Such e-marketplace should be linked with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
- d) Enable Property Managers to hire services of registered DCI Professionals.
- e) Enable  interaction and collaboration among  various  stakeholders through various technologies and tools.
- f) To  provide  a  feedback  mechanism  for  the  services  delivered  by  registered  DCI Professionals and certified products used.

- g) To maintain details with regard to development projects/ Buildings approved - ongoing, completed and put to use by the local bodies and other competent authorities.
- h) To create  a  repository  in  respect  of  the  service  providers  along  with  technologies  and spectrum bands, who are offering services in the area and update the same from time to time.
- i) To create a repository of knowledge based on past learning of implementation of DCI projects to support in standardisation of the processes.
- j) To make available on a regular basis the information on standards, technology and best practices within India and at global level related to DCI.
- k) To publish analytical reports/articles on DCI development and related issues.
- l) To make available acts/ laws/ bye-laws/ rules/ regulations related to DCI.
- m) To  facilitate  online  application,  clearance  and  approval  process  for  service  providers seeking access to DCI created in Buildings
30. Till the time CoDCI is established, the digital platform should be created by DoT to meet immediate objectives, which can later be handed over to the CoDCI.
31. The approval of DCI design, deployment and use of Buildings should remain with the existing institutions as per statute of State/UT Governments for the purpose.
32. The Authorities of the States/UTs responsible for approval of DCI development plans and evaluations thereof, should hire the services of a suitable expert/agency duly registered and certified by the Council of DCI (CoDCI).
33. The BIS Panel  on  'Information  and  Communication  Enabled  Installations'  should  develop standards in respect of DCI for the Buildings, to be included in the National Building Code. The definitions, related to DCI, should be made part of the NBC.
34. The  appropriate  provisions  for  Rating  of  Buildings  for  Digital  Connectivity  should  be included in the MBBL, on the lines of the provisions made in the MBBL for rating of green buildings.
35. To start with, the Rating of Buildings for digital connectivity should be made mandatory for all existing as well as new Buildings of public importance within two years of issue of the regulatory framework by TRAI or two years from obtaining occupancy certificate, whichever is  later.  The  Rating  of  the  following  Buildings  of  public  importance  should  be  made mandatory:
- a) Airports,
- b) Ports,
- c) Railway/ metro stations,
- d) Bus stations,
- e) Buildings of Central/ State/ UT Governments/ Local authorities/Government agencies/ PSUs,
- f) Government residential colonies,
- g) Industrial estates including industrial parks, SEZs, multi-modal logistic parks,
- h) Large commercial office complexes,
- i) Large commercial shopping complexes,
- j) All institutes of higher education including research institutes,
- k) All multi-speciality hospitals, and
- l) Any other Buildings as Government may decide. (Para 3.4.6)

36. The  Rating  of  Buildings  for  digital  connectivity  should  be  made  mandatory  for  all  new Buildings, excluding the class of Buildings as may be decided by MoHUA in consultation with the States/ UTs and other stakeholders.
37. The Property Manager should get Buildings rated for digital connectivity within two years of obtaining the occupancy certificate once TRAI has issued the regulatory framework.
38. For Buildings other than those mandated, the Property Manager may get their Buildings rated for digital connectivity on voluntary basis.
39. A new draft chapter on DCI for the Buildings, as suggested in the Appendix-I to this chapter, should be included in the Model Building Bye Laws, in line with the recommendation no. 7

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