SACFA Clearance Guidelines for filling up Siting Applications

SACFA Clearance: Guidelines for setting
up Siting Application

What is SACFA Clearance?

SACFA full form is Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocations
(SACFA). It is a high-level committee chaired by the Secretary (DOT)/Chairman of the
Telecom Commission. Heads of major wireless users/administrative ministries of the
Govt. of India, Member (Technology), Telecom Commission, and Wireless Adviser to
the Govt. of India, Joint Secretary, DoT are its members. The WPC wing of the Ministry
of Communications provides secretarial help to the Committee. The Joint Wireless
Adviser of the WPC wing is the member-secretary of the Committee. Executive
Director-Telecom Development ( ED-TD) Railway Board is a member of the SACFA
clearance committee representing the Ministry of Railways.

Functions of the SACFA Committee

The following are the issues on which the SACFA committee tables its suggestions:
 Major frequency allocation
 Formulation of National Frequency Allocation Plan
 Making recommendations on various issues related to International
Telecommunications Union (ITU)
 Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT)

 Problems referred to the Committee by various wireless users, siting clearance of
all wireless installations in the country, etc.

The SACFA clearance certificate is obtained after getting 'no objection' from SACFA
members who have to perform a detailed technical evaluation. At times they have to
obtain evaluations from their field units. These technical evaluations are done primarily
for the following:

 Aviation hazards
 Obstruction to the line of sight of existing or planned networks
 Interference to existing and proposed networks.

SACFA Clearance Guidelines for filling up Siting
Applications

Application Filing

To obtain SACFA approval for all categories of siting, you must file the application form
from the SACFA secretariat. The applicant must also furnish necessary information
keeping in view the following:

Site Coordinates

The six-digit coordinates of the site are necessary. These six-figure coordinates must be
taken with the help of GPS or any other method for accuracy.

MASL Height

The SACFA clearance applicant company must obtain the height of the site Above
Mean Sea Level (AMSL) from the Survey of India or any other agency. The only
exception is the additional antenna category for which a copy of the earlier SACFA
clearance and AAIs clearance is mandatory.

Nearest Airport Details

The applicant must mention the name of the nearest airport and its distance from the
site in the application for categories of siting.

Other Nearest Government Organizations

If the site is within 5 kms of the airport, then the nearest airport authority or any other
government organization must authenticate the site map. Organizations like Municipal

Corporations, Local Town Planning Committees, etc. Also, the distance of the site from
the airport must be authenticated.

SACFA Site Map

The site map must be of the scale of 1 cm = 1 km or the nearest. And it must cover an
area of a 12 kms radius around the site. The applicant must mark the following clearly
on the map:

 Scale of the map
 location of the site
 name and geo-coordinates of the site

The map must contain at least two parallel lines of latitude and longitude. The applicant
himself should authenticate the geo-coordinates of the site on the map.

Application Submission and Verification

The applicant must submit the applications for SACFA clearance and its soft copy for
examination. He can submit a maximum of five applications in one bunch. Also, he must
fill out a separate application form for different frequency bands and different sites.

After issuing IDs, the applicant must circulate the siting application as per the list
applicable to each category of siting clearance. Also, the applicant must attach a
forwarding letter that the SACFA issues with the siting application.

The applicant must circulate the applications for the additional antenna category to all
members of SACFA. But no NOC from any member is necessary for approval of the
site. The only exception is sites that fall in the DIZ area for which NOC from JCES is
necessary. Also, he must attach a copy of the agreement letter assigning the
frequencies from WPC to the application. Furthermore, the applicant must endorse a
copy of DOT's license agreement in case of value-added service.

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