Navi Mumbai Hub: Early Testing Hints At Thaw In 5G Standoff
A Right of Way dispute between NMIA and telecom operators has left passengers grappling with patchy 4G and 5G connectivity, spotlighting deeper questions over control of digital infrastructure at India’s newest airports.
The Gist
The ongoing dispute between Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) and major telecom operators is causing significant connectivity issues for passengers.
- The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) claims NMIA has denied Right of Way (RoW) permissions for telecom firms to install their solutions.
- Passengers have reported unreliable data speeds and dead zones since the airport's opening in December 2025.
- While NMIA asserts it has provided a neutral system, COAI argues that the current setup restricts independent 4G and 5G rollouts.
A dispute between Navi Mumbai International Airport and India’s telecom operators is leaving passengers flying through the airport without network connectivity.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, has formally alleged that Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (NMIAL) has denied Right of Way (RoW) permissions to telecom companies seeking to deploy their own in-building solutions (IBS) within the airport.
“This reflects the overall standard of Indian airports. It does not show us in a good light. These requirements should have been clearly defined and aligned well before the airport opened. That said, it is still February, and if there is intent, the issue can be resolved by March,” Vandana Singh, chairperson, Aviation Cargo Federation of Aviation Industry in India (FAII), told The Core.
The Key Issue
The standoff centres on Right of Way (RoW) permissions, which carriers argue are mandatory under the Telecommunications Act of 2023. Operators prefer owning their in-building solutions (IBS) to maintain direct control over 5G performance and long-term operating costs.
While operators said that the current setup effectively restricts independent 4G and 5G rollouts, NMIAL maintains that it has provided a neutral system and denied any legal rights.
The impact is felt by passengers who have reported persistent dead zones and unreliable data speeds since operations began in December 2025.
The COAI has petitioned the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to intervene. The association has said that without regulation, the dispute could undermine competition and leave travellers at one of India's most modern airports without reliable service.
Testing Begins
There are signs of a thaw. Airport authorities and telecom providers have begun limited testing to map coverage gaps, according to people from NMIA familiar with the matter.
“Airtel has participated in trials so that every area can be assessed to identify where the network is available and where it is not. At present, the testing primarily involves BSNL and Airtel, which are logging signal availability across the premises,” NMIAL sources told The Core.
Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea have not yet signed on for the trials, the airport said.
The connectivity gaps at Navi Mumbai International Airport stem from a dispute between the airport operator and major private telecom companies over access to and pricing of in-building telecom infrastructure.
NMIAL says it has installed a neutral-host system and has not denied RoW. However, COAI, which represents Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, alleges that operators are being prevented from deploying their own in-building solutions and are instead being asked to use the airport’s system at commercially unviable rates.
The association argues this effectively restricts independent 4G and 5G rollout and may violate the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the RoW Rules, 2024.
What’s Going Wrong At NMIA
Airport authorities have acknowledged receiving complaints about mobile connectivity and say work is underway to improve coverage. However, the absence of clear timelines and unresolved questions regarding responsibility has added to passenger frustration, particularly as traffic volumes at the airport begin to scale up, handling 5,000 passengers per day.
Industry practice typically places responsibility for creating passive infrastructure with the airport operator, while telecom companies deploy their networks on top. At NMIA, disagreement over the terms of that access has delayed wider rollout by private carriers.
Delays tend to occur when coordination between airport authorities, telecom firms and regulators breaks down, whether due to commercial disagreements, approval processes or execution issues.
Beyond convenience, reliable connectivity also has safety and operational implications. Airports depend on uninterrupted communication for emergency response, coordination and passenger information. As digital boarding passes, app-based services and cashless payments become standard, network access has become core infrastructure rather than an add-on.
What NMIA Is Saying
For many travellers, the issue becomes apparent within minutes of landing, with UPI payments failing, ride-hailing apps struggling to load, one-time passwords not arriving and voice calls dropping or failing to connect.
NMIAL has denied the allegations by COAI.
“Contrary to the allegations made by the COAI, RoW has never been denied by NMIAL to any telecom service provider at NMIA,” the airport said in a statement.
“NMIAL has regularly communicated and discussed with service providers and has already offered IBS services at charges in line with existing industry standards, to which the telecom service providers are yet to respond.”
The airport said that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) has already been onboarded and is providing services on this infrastructure since the airport began operations.
The airport also said it had deliberately opted for a neutral-host IBS model based on experience that certain critical areas — including baggage belts, utility buildings and air traffic control facilities — are often deprioritised by telecom service providers in favour of high passenger-density zones, leading to operational inefficiencies and passenger inconvenience.
At the centre of the connectivity dispute is a commercial disagreement between the airport operator and India’s major telecom companies. COAI has alleged that NMIAL is conditioning access to mobile network infrastructure on what it describes as commercially unviable fees.
As per reports, the airport has proposed charges of about Rs 92 lakh per month per operator for access to its in-building system, translating to roughly Rs 44.16 crore annually for four carriers.
NMIAL has rejected that claim. “The pricing for neutral-host IBS services at NMIAL is aligned with rates already established and implemented at other public-private partnership airports across India and is fully in line with prevailing industry benchmarks,” the airport said in a statement.
What The Law Requires
Under the RoW Rules public authorities — including airport operators — are required to grant telecom companies access to deploy network infrastructure on transparent, non-discriminatory and time-bound terms. The framework permits authorities to recover only reasonable administrative and restoration costs, and does not allow the levying of large commercial fees for access.
The rules are designed to facilitate network deployment at public infrastructure, not to monetise access through high or recurring charges. Fees are intended to be standardised and modest, reflecting the limited cost of permitting installation rather than serving as a revenue stream.
Applied to NMIA, the regime allows the operator to set operational conditions and recover limited costs. However, imposing large monthly payments on each operator for basic mobile network access would run counter to the intent of the RoW framework, which was introduced to curb arbitrary pricing and prevent access bottlenecks at public facilities.
Can Telecom Charges Be Regulated?
Industry experts said the regulatory framework allows for intervention if charges are found to be excessive. Singh said pricing models at airports could be examined like how bandwidth pricing and other telecom charges are regulated.
“This is very much possible, and these are issues the regulator can address,” Singh said.
She added that where multiple operators bid to provide services at an airport, pricing should be linked to defined service levels and quality benchmarks.
“If the charges are excessive, the issue needs to be re-examined. Operators should be able to challenge such pricing, and authorities should be open to bringing in alternative players,” she said.
Singh further added that the approach should avoid creating market concentration and ensure infrastructure-sharing frameworks that are transparent and competitive.
“If there is an excessive charge of Rs 92–98 lakh per month, there has to be clarity on what is being offered in return and how infrastructure sharing will work,” she said.
How Mobile Networks Are Built Into Airports
Telecom infrastructure is ideally planned and embedded during the construction phase of an airport, rather than retrofitted after operations begin, according to RS Sharma, former chairman at TRAI.
“You create pathways in the same way internal roads are built to connect to external roads. As buildings come up, conduits for fibre and cables can be laid alongside electrical and utility systems, allowing connectivity to run across the airport. Operators can then connect at designated central points, similar to how power is distributed from a main electrical switch room,” Sharma said.
“During the airport construction, when you build an airport, you plan water supply, electricity and all essential systems. Broadband and telecom networks should be planned in the same way,” Sharma added.
How Other Airports Manage Connectivity
At major hubs including Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (Terminal 2), Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, indoor telecom networks were in place before passenger terminals became fully operational. Multiple operators provide stable voice and data services across terminals, basements, lounges and parking areas.
Deployment models vary. In some cases, airport operators own the passive infrastructure — such as ducts, fibre and antennas — while telecom companies install their active equipment. In others, a third-party neutral host manages the full system. In both approaches, the emphasis is on redundancy, reliability and operator-neutral access.
By comparison, connectivity gaps at Navi Mumbai International Airport are more conspicuous, given its positioning as a modern alternative to Mumbai’s capacity-constrained primary airport.
Possible Regulatory Path Forward
Regulatory intervention could help resolve the dispute, according to industry experts. Singh said TRAI could expedite its review of the pricing disagreement and establish a cost-based framework for telecom infrastructure at airports.
“The regulator has the authority to define this clearly, including pricing, revenue-sharing and infrastructure-sharing mechanisms,” Singh said.
She added that deadlines could be set and independent experts consulted to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution between the airport operator and telecom companies, while ensuring costs are reduced through shared infrastructure.
Singh said any such framework would also need ongoing monitoring.
