The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is very unhappy with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for undertaking an optical fibre cutting drive in Bangalore, Karnataka. Because of the actions taken by BBMP, citizens of the city have to face outages and inconveniences. Mind that Bangalore is one of the most heavily populated cities of India and is also known as the IT Hub of the country. BBMP’s move will handicap the internet service providers (ISPs) as well the telcos in providing seamless and consistent network services to people living in Bangalore.
BBMP’s Move Creating Panic and Unrest Amongst Telcos and Citizens of Bangalore
The effects of the cutting of optical fibre in Bangalore is creating panic among telcos as well as the citizens of the city, said COAI in a statement. What’s noteworthy here is that the fibre cut drive is being conducted without any prior notice or intimation to the telecoms service providers (TSPs). Areas where the fibre cutting activity is taking place, include Kaggadasapura; Yellankha zone, and Mahadevapura zone. Further, this move from BBMP is a huge blow to the Digital Bengaluru zone. It will impact essential services such as Point of Sale purchase applications at retail outlets and various government services in Bangalore. For the unaware, Karnataka has over 1,46,300 Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) and 43,900 towers for supporting mobile internet and telephone communications. All the optical fibre cable (OFC) was laid after obtaining requisite permission from the concerned authorities and making necessary payments in accordance with the existing rules and regulations. COAI had requested BBMP to at least give a reasonable time period of six months to the member TSPs so that they could install overhead OFC underground. COAI had requested that the members TSPs should not be charged any additional fee for laying the overhead OFC underground. However, BBMP went ahead with its fibre cut drive in Bangalore in the key areas of the city, which is definitely going to affect telecom services negatively. The industry body has condemned the move from BBMP and has appealed to the authorities to not take any coercive steps which may impact the connectivity of the citizens living in the city.
