Indian mobiles fall silent over tower dispute

Mobile phone companies in India reacted furiously yesterday after authorities shut down hundreds of allegedly illegal towers and left tens of thousands of users suffering cut-off calls and no reception.

About 300 towers were closed across Noida, a booming satellite town outside the capital New Delhi, in a dispute over whether they had been built on private properties where commercial activity is banned.

"They are not illegal. The action taken by the Noida authorities is totally arbitrary and uncalled for," said T.R. Dua, director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India. Describing the shutdowns as "inhuman", Dua said that mobile reception was an essential part of everyday life and that people were unable to call for help if they were sick or had had an accident.

Allegedly illegal towers have sprung up across India and have increasingly become the centre of disputes between giant mobile phone companies such as Vodafone and local authorities.

More than 15 million people a month become new users of mobile phones in India, the world's fastest-expanding mobile market.

With a poor landline network and cut-throat pricing war, 45 out of every 100 people in India now have a mobile phone.