Telecom Ministry Says ‘Be Aware Of Fake 5G Towers’ Ahead Of 5G Rollout

As the nation prepares for the introduction of 5G, players in the telecom industry have warned the general public about fraud involving the placement of mobile towers on private homes. The Digital Infrastructure Providers’ Association (DIPA) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) have warned people to be wary of certain companies, organisations, or people who may approach and ask them to deposit money into their accounts in the name of government taxes for renting out their properties for the installation of 5G mobile towers.

There have been reports of dodgy individuals and businesses contacting homeowners and collecting deposits under the pretense of building 5G mobile towers at their sites as the nation gears up for 5G rollout by the end of this year. Additionally, the same people offer phony “No Objection Certificates” for installing towers from the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology.

For those in the dark, neither telecom service providers (TSP) nor infrastructure providers (IPs) deploy mobile towers. Indus Towers, Tower Vision, Ascend Telecom, American Tower Corporation, and Summit Digital Infrastructure are a few examples of the telecom infrastructure companies that install them.

“IPs are taking several steps to caution the public about the frauds and have devised various modes to collect the information about potential locations through various channels such as toll-free numbers, websites, email etc.,” said T.R. Dua, DG, DIPA.

“Mobile towers are quintessential to ensure uninterrupted connectivity, support various critical services and maintain communication across the states. The public suffers gravely owing to the fraud related to mobile towers,” said Lt Gen Dr. S.P. Kochhar, DG, COAI. He further added, “The telecom industry remains committed to providing the best quality of services to its customers. Hence, we have collaborated with DIPA to build the required robust infrastructure.”