industry

BBMP cutting OFC cables in Bengaluru will disrupt digital services, warns cellular operators' body


Bengaluru is staring at potential disruption of digital services on a large scale as the civic body, BBMP, has resorted to large-scale cutting of OFCs of telecom and internet service providers, according to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

This random cutting of OFC across areas like Sarjapur Road, Whitefield, Marathahalli, Bellandur, Sarjapur etc. without any prior intimation of telecom and internet service providers is leading to huge outages and inconvenience to citizens, it said in a press release.

“Over 1,47,200 Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) on approximately 34,700 towers have been installed in Karnataka state to support telephone, mobile and internet communications. This alone equals Rs 14,500 crore in network investments. The sector also generates about Rs 10,000 crore per annum in revenues in Karnataka alone,” it said.

BBMP is treating all over-the-ground cables as unauthorized, though the industry had obtained all necessary permissions and had originally laid them underground. However, the service providers were constrained to lay them overhead with the permission of BBMP as and when the same were unintentionally cut/removed during various civil works carried out by BBMP, BESCOM, BWSSB etc, the COAI said.

COAI director general Rajan S Mathews said: “All our members are fully compliant with the rules and regulations of the concerned authorities. While the industry has been trying to discuss and resolve the issue, BBMP has chosen to remove this key last mile connectivity infrastructure rather than work with telecom companies to find an amicable solution. We once again appeal to the Government of Karnataka and to the BBMP to immediately allow the restoration of the infrastructure and develop a future ready framework to enable deliver world-class digital connectivity to citizens in the IT capital of India.”

The Right of Way (RoW) rules, 2016 issued by the Central Government for provisioning of the underground/over the ground telecom infrastructure has enabling features such as no restriction on location of telecom towers, single window clearance mechanism, defined time-period for approvals, appointment of Nodal officers, nominal administrative fees and deemed approval etc. extensively supporting the Digital India mission. In order to streamline the issue, the telecom industry is ready to help and Municipal body to provide and discuss the best practices being followed in other states regarding RoW rules, 2016, the press release said.





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