TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: In a bid to improve the internet connectivity across Goa, the State Government is in the process of finalising Goa Infrastructure Policy 2020, related to installation of mobile towers and Right of Way (RoW).
Minister for Information and Technology (IT) Jennifer Monserrate in a written reply tabled in the House, while acknowledging the poor connectivity issue, has said that a survey is being carried out in order to identify and fix the faults related to the network.
The Minister added that due to the prevailing conditions of COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a higher dependency on digital tools.
“The Government is in the process of finalising Goa Infrastructure Policy related to installation of mobile towers and Right of Way (RoW) permissions in which the process of installation of mobile towers and RoW permissions shall be simplified, thereby increasing the mobile coverage,” she said.
Monserrate was responding to a question tabled by Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat.
Monserrate said that a draft policy related to installation of mobile towers and Right of Way (RoW) permissions has been prepared by representatives of Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA).
“The same policy was circulated to various Departments i.e. PWD, DMA, Forest Department, Goa State Pollution Control Board, Department of Panchayats, Power, Department of Science and Technology for their inputs,” she added.
The policy was also discussed with various telecom providers such as BSNL, Reliance Jio, Indus Towers Ltd, local internet service providers such as DNA, DTPL, UTL and the inputs have been taken from the same.
“The representations and draft policy is under the consideration of the Government to actively provide better connectivity to all Goans including the students,” Monserrate informed the House.
The Minister further said that in order to improve the existing network connectivity in Government Departments, Corporation and educational institutions, the IT department has appointed an agency by floating a tender to repair and replace the faulty networking equipments and Optical Fiber Cable.
