Telecom Services In Bengaluru Can Disrupt As Telcos, City Officials Lock Horns Over This Issue

The public of Bengaluru has a terrible disaster literally looming over them, as telecom cables are hanging from trees and lying unprotected on roads, which have been the cause of many an accident in the past.

This might result in another hassle, call drops and internet disruption and the two entities to be blamed for this are the telecom operators and providers and the municipal corporation of Bengaluru.

Apparently, both the parties have locked horns over a payment issue, however, it will now affect the unaware and undeserving public of the city.

Talk about a casualty!

To know what exactly went down in the silicon valley of India, read on.

Optical Fibre Cables On The Road

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has ordered its officials to cut off the cables, belonging to telecom companies and internet providers. The municipal body has ordered the mass disconnection of the cables that have been lying on the roads and grounds as this disobeys the rules and norms.

The municipal corporation has also demanded fees from telecom operators and internet providers to get these cables laid underground.

On the other hand, the telecom operators have argued that this was a temporary situation as construction and mending of the roads was in progress. They also argued that money has already been paid for laying them under the ground.

The War of Words

The two parties have been going at it verbally, with none of them showing any sign of going quietly.

As per an official, the BBMP has ordered the disconnection of the optical fiber cables which were unauthorised. Apparently, theses unauthorised cables have given rise to “huge financial losses”. Also, cables dangling in such a way is truly dangerous for the citizens and this has been the cause of plenty of accidents in the past.

He also said that the telecom companies were warned to get the cables laid in the way that fit the norms, but these warnings fell on the deaf ear of the latter. He added, “We were left with no option but to disconnect them.”

The telecom operator has not held back and retaliated fiercely to this. The telecom industry body, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is arguing that telecom operators are legally permitted to lay the cables dangling in such a way because of the road construction work always damaging them.

The body also said that fees have already been paid and permission was sought for this temporary arrangement of laying the cables over the ground.

COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews said, “We asked them to put the order on hold and give us time to put them underground as cable cut will lead to disruption in services which is already on red alert after the terror attack in Sri Lanka.”

To help resolve the issue, the COAI got in touch with Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan, who in turn addressed the Karnataka State Chief Secretary. The Secretary, on the request of representatives of Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea, has asked the BBMP to resolve the matter.

Blatantly cutting off the cables of internet and telecom will obviously lead to a lot of commotion and unrest among the citizens of Bengaluru. The fact that the city is the silicon valley of India speaks for itself, and cutting off network cables will no doubt hinder the work that is in progress in one of the biggest IT hubs of India.

Legal or not, cables dangling from trees, or lying unprotected on the roads is bound to give rise to unwanted incidents.

Let’s hope that it doesn’t take an actual emergency to happen to resolve the petty fights of the municipal body and the telecom operators.

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