iBurst’s base station battle
Site acquisition and environmental approval for new base stations have become one of the biggest constraints for wireless operators to increase coverage and address network congestion.
Mukul Sharma, executive head of the consumer business unit at Neotel, recently said that high-site acquisition remains a serious problem for the company, something which is hampering its network growth and coverage expansion.
Wireless network operator iBurst is currently facing additional pressure in the form of community resistance to tower rollouts. iBurst however says that it abides by the provisions of both the Environmental Conservation Act 73 of 1989 and the National Building Regulation and Building Standards Act 103 of 1977.
“As part of this process iBurst has to make use of independent consultants for the Environmental applications. These consultants are responsible for dealing with the public within the area and manage any objections received regarding the erection of a base station and they will advise accordingly,” iBurst said in a media statement.
“If the consultant cannot clear the concerns of the objectors we restart the process of obtaining an alternative position for our installation.”
iBurst said that they have experienced objections to installing a base station in certain areas. “All objections are handled by the consultants mentioned above and there has been times where we they have been unable to come to an agreement with the objector which results in iBurst having to look for and secure an alternative site,” said iBurst.
iBurst base station battle – give your views
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