The airport operator has countered charges from telcos and said as the airport was a sensitive zone, frequent servicing, maintenance and upkeep of the infrastructure was best managed by it, and, therefore, it had opted for In Building Solution (IBS) infrastructure. File photo: Special arrangement
Telecom companies are sparring with the Adani Group and have sought the Centre’s intervention over the latter’s refusal to grant “right of way” (RoW) at the recently opened Navi Mumbai airport for deploying infrastructure to provide cellular services to air travellers, alleging “monopolistic arrangements” by the airport operator which has deployed an in-building network and has sought from telcos “extortionary charges” that “undermine competition and consumer choice”.
Earlier a picture went viral on social media of a public display board at the Navi Mumbai airport informing passengers that mobile signals for Airtel, Vodafone and Jio may not be available at the airport and they could use the free airport Wi-Fi.
The airport operator has countered charges from telcos and said as the airport was a sensitive zone, frequent servicing, maintenance and upkeep of the infrastructure was best managed by it, and, therefore, it had opted for In Building Solution (IBS) infrastructure. This would also ensure uninterrupted connectivity across the airport.
“The Navi Mumbai International Airport Limited has declined to grant the necessary permissions and directed telecom service providers [TSPs] to mandatorily utilise a network deployed by it, at exorbitant and commercially untenable charges,” the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) said in a statement. It has written to the Department of Telecommunication seeking its intervention on the matter.
The airport operator has sought nearly ₹92 lakh per month per operator, aggregating to nearly ₹44.16 crore per annum for four operators.
“These charges are grossly disproportionate and significantly exceed the total capital expenditure ordinarily required for deployment of an independent IBS network,” the statement adds.
Public entity
The COAI has demanded that as the airport qualifies as a public entity as per the provisions of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules, 2024 the airport operator is statutorily obligated to grant Right of Way (RoW) permission in a “non-discriminatory and time-bound manner” for the installation of telecommunication infrastructure.
It further states that the Navi Mumbai International Airport Limited has conferred upon itself exclusive RoW rights under the guise of being a “neutral host” and asserted that such a grant of exclusive RoW or creation of “monopolist arrangements” for provision of RoW for the purpose of building the telecommunication network were not permissible under the law.
“The exclusive arrangement effectively forecloses competition and compels all licensed TSPs to operate through a single entity at the extortionary charges, thereby undermining competition, consumer choice and regulatory neutrality,” its press statement adds.
Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi remarked about this controversy on X and wrote, “here comes the business of profit mafia. My way or the highway for public infrastructure? Should government agencies have not ensured that the airport operator ensure connectivity and passenger convenience?”.
The Adani Airport Holding Limited is the biggest private airport operator in the country that altogether operates eight airports that witness 90 million passengers in a year. It has run into crosshairs with business jet operators over alleged forceful eviction from Mumbai airport to Navi Mumbai, where a steep parking fee of ₹20 crore per parking stand was being levied on top of an annual fee. Global airlines body International Air Transport Association (IATA) too had appealed that passenger airlines should not be forced to transfer to the new airport in order to kickstart operations there.
Published – December 31, 2025 09:40 pm IST
