“India has about 935 million mobile connections. These connections are made possible by an interconnected network of about 500,000 cell towers at present. Future growth of mobile networks offering 3G, 4G and other advanced technologies will depend heavily on building additional cell towers,” he said.

On the 1 lakh crore envisaged knowledge economy programme of the present government ‘Digital India’ or the smart cities programme, Mathews noted that all these need more telecom infrastructure like electronic equipment, towers and coverage.

These infrastructural improvements will be crucial for rolling out fibre optics in gram panchayat, improving electrnics and changing mobile connectivity of third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G), he said.

“The proliferation of radio communication stations in urban and rural environments has raised public concerns regarding human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). This public concern has arisen in large part from the misinformation and vested interests spread by certain misguided activists.

“This has impacted the expansion of the vital Infrastructure requirements of mobile networks, in the form of availability of towers; and without the requisite infrastructure the dream of ‘Digital India’ will remain a pipe dream,” Mathews added.

In the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), the government has kept aside Rs 8 lakh crore investment towards telecom and communications.

About the much talked-about health hazard issue from telecom towers, Mathews said: “WHO (World Health Organisation) continues to review the health hazard aspect from mobile tower emission. They will come out with a report by mid-21015 that will indicate how it looks like.”

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