In recent times, various types of information have been being reported regarding mobile towers. It has also come to light at many places that people have opposed their installation in residential areas citing the ill effects of radiation emanating from mobile towers, while on the other hand, their number has also increased continuously due to the need for proper mobile network. Mobile towers are being installed rapidly in urban and rural areas in a bid to improve network connectivity for the users. Data from the Department of Telecommunication (DOT) has revealed that in the last 7 years, considering the current needs Haryana has witnessed sizable spurt in mobile towers categories of mobile towers which include Cell on Wheels (COW), Ground Best Mast (GBM), Ground Best Tower (GBT), Low Power BTS (LPBTS), Roof Top Poles (RTP), Roof Top tower (RTT) and wall mount (WM). What statistics depicts is that 5G services were launched in India on 1st October 2022. Within a span of 14 months, more than 4.15 Lakh 5G sites are providing connectivity across 742 districts. This is the fastest roll-out of 5G anywhere in the world. To further improve telecom connectivity in the country, the Government is implementing various schemes. A total of 41,160 mobile towers have been sanctioned with an outlay of Rs. 41,331 Cr to provide 4G connectivity to about 55 thousand villages. Scope of BharatNet program outlay of Rs. 1.88 Lakh Cr. has been expanded to connect all inhabited villages with an outlay of Rs 1.88 lakh crore.
The statistics revealed that during a period of seven years from March 2017 till March 2023, the number of mobile towers in all categories has increased by more than 42 percent. In Haryana, the mobile towers 9786 in March 2017 have increased to 10383 in March 2018. Whereas in March 2019 and March 2020, the number of mobile towers increased to 12457 and 13239 respectively. After this, in March 2021, March 2022 and March 2023, the number of mobile towers increased to 14923, 16018 and 17161. In this context, 7375 new mobile towers have been installed in Haryana in a period of 7 years displaying a multi fold increase.
Out of all the mobile towers installed across the country, more than 4 lakh mobile towers fall in the Ground Best Mobile tower category and the situation is similar in the case of mobile towers in Haryana too. Out of total 17161 towers installed in Haryana, 10586 belong to the same category which is about 62 percent of the total towers. In March 2017, the number of GBT category mobile towers in Haryana was 7432, which increased to 10856 by March 2023. After this, Haryana has the second highest number of 2352 mobile towers falling in roof top poles category while at the third place in the roof top tower category, there are 2233 mobile towers. Apart from this, there are 1380 mobile towers in low power BTS category, 421 in ground best mast, 188 in Cell on Wheel and 1 mobile tower in Wall Mount category.
Similarly, at the national level, out of total 754067 mobile towers, a maximum of 420770 belong to Ground Best Category towers. After this, a maximum 135270 mobile towers are in the Roof Top Pole category. At the same time, there are 98871 mobile towers in roof top tower category, 60948 in low power BTS, 32166 in ground based mast, 4955 in cell on wheels and 1087 mobile towers in wall mount category across the country. At the national level, the number of mobile towers has increased by more than 3 lakh. There were 443054 mobile towers in the country in March 2017, whose number increased to 464661 in March 2018. After this, in March 2019, the number of mobile towers of all categories increased to 537178. Then in March 2020, this figure increased to 595567. After this the package was assessed extensively in utility numbers and the utility numbers became 654814, 710040 and 754067 67 in March 2021, March 2022 March 2023. It is evident from the data that compared to March 2017, the number of mobile towers in Haryana has increased by more than 41 percent in a period of 7 years from March 2023.
