Telcos write to Rescos; offer to take entire wind, solar output

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Accused of damaging environment with excessive use of diesel generators in hinterlands to run their towers and causing radiation, telcos have written to renewable energy producers (Rescos) offering to draw their complete output.

Leading the charge are the apex telecom industry bodies -- GSM operators body COAI and CDMA lobby Aupsi -- which have jointly placed a power purchase order with seven Rescos to power as many as 1 lakh telecom towers in their effort to bring down carbon emission from diesel-fired generators.

"The umbrella body of telecom tower companies, Tower & Infrastructure Providers Association (Taipa), had two months ago sent a request for proposal (RFP) to seven Rescos like Moser Bayer and ABB among others informing their readiness to buy their entire generation to power our 1 lakh towers," according to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) director general Rajan S. Mathews.

The Taipa representatives could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. On their response, Mathews said though the initial response was positive, these power companies have some doubts about the viability of such projects and that they are in talks with companies to iron out the issues.

Telecom towers, which are over 1 lakh together, burnt diesel worth over Rs 12,500 crore last fiscal to run generator sets to supply power to towers raising yet another concern about the pollution hazard that telecom companies are causing, apart from the radiation risks from telecom towers.

On sharing telecom towers as a way to bring down air pollution as also the alleged radiation threats, which both COAI and Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUPSI) -- allayed as "unfounded and scientifically not proven," Mathews said, "Already 70 per cent towers have over two customers and the rest have three to four."

Allaying fears of the public regarding radiation threats from telecom masts, which dot both the city skylines as well as the hinterlands, the Coai and Aupsi, citing some independent studies claimed that none of the independent studies have proved these fears.

"There is so much misrepresentation about incidence of brain tumours and use of cell phones. The incidence of brain tumours in the country has been unchanged over the past one decade. Hence, introduction of cellular phones and mobile services does not seem to have increased the risk of brain tumours and cancer," Mathews said in a presentation, citing many independent studies.

He further claimed that radio waves have been in the environment since times immemorial and the same waves used in wireless telecommunications have not been scientifically proven to cause any harmful effects to human health.

"Since we are subjected to greater risks every second, why single out wireless telecommunications," he asked and claimed that "there are also no formal studies that show any adverse effect on growth and development in children. Thus, the benefits of advanced telecommunications far outweigh the risks at present," he said.

Mathews also said strength of radiation received from base stations beyond a few meters is considerably lower than the strength of radiation from radio and television transmitters and that 15 years of studies examining a potential relationship between radio frequency transmitters and cancer have not provided evidence that exposure to mobile towers increases the risk of cancer.