Section 60, The Telecommunications Act, 2006

(1) Any public telecommunications operator may, fromtime to time, place and maintain a telecommnications line, post or apparatus, under, over, along, across, in or upon any public immovable property: 34 35 Commission to prescribe accounting procedures. Operators to report annually to Restriction on access to documents or information. Universal access. Operators to replace and maintain lines or posts and apparatuses. Provided that - (a) such operator- (i) shall acquire no right other than that of user, in the property under, over, along or across which it places a telecommunications line, or in or upon which it places a post or apparatus; (ii) shall exercise those powers in respect of any property vested in or under the control or management of a local authority or the Roads Authority with the specific or general permission of such authorities, as provided in this Act; (iii) in exercise of any power conferred by this section, shall do as little damage as possible and shall ensure as far as possible that such replacement of line under, above, along or across and of posts or apparatus in or upon any public property does not interfere with the legitimate use of the property by the interested parties; (b) in case of any damage sustained by reason of the exercise of these powers, including unreasonable interference with legitimate use of the property, the public telecommunications operator shall pay full compensation to the interested parties; (c) the compensation payable, shall, as far as possible, be determined by mutual negotiations between the operator and the interested parties, and where they fail to reach an agreement by mutual negotiation, the matter shall be referred to the Commission by either party which after examination of all the relevant facts of the case shall award appropriate compensation. (2) Any local authority or the Roads Authority, when requested by the public telecommunications operator, shall permit the exercise of the powers under subsection (1) in respect of land or other immovable public property vested in or controlled or managed by it. (3) For the purposes of subsection (1), the local authority or Roads Authority may- (a) impose such reasonable conditions, as to the time and mode of execution or as to any other thing connected with the exercise of the powers under subsection (1), as it may think fit in the interest of public convenience; (b) require the public telecommunications operator to reimburse it for any expenses to which it may be put necessarily in exercise of the powers by the operators; (c) prescribe a suitable form, in consultation with the operator, in which the operator shall make an application for the necessary permission; (d) constitute a co-ordination committee of all the utilities including the electricity, water and sewage authorities for co-ordinating the work, particularly in regard to establishing lines under, over, along and across the roads and highways along with similar facilities of others: Provided that – 36 37 (i) any public telecommunications operator or his representatives may, at all reasonable times or at any time in case of urgency, enter any public property under, over, along, across, in or upon which the line, post or apparatus has been placed for the purpose of examining, repairing, altering or removing the telecommunications line, post or apparatus; (ii) a certificate by the Minister shall be conclusive proof of the urgency referred to in paragraph (i); (iii) the Commission or any public telecommunications operator shall not be liable for any damage resulting from any failure, direct or indirect, of any telecommunications network or system. (4) For the purposes of this section, “post” includes a tree, pole, standard, stay, strut or other contrivance for carrying or supporting a telegraph line.