Telecom major Airtel has flagged the issue of fiber cutting in Hyderabad to the Telecommunication Department, seeking its intervention to resolve the issue, even as the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) alleged that the indiscriminate cutting of fiber across Hyderabad by the Telangana power utility continues unabated.
Acting on a complaint from Airtel and others, the local Telecom officials wrote a letter to Sunita Chandra, Director-General Telecom, Department of Telecom, explaining to her the disruptions being caused to telecom and Internet services in Hyderabad.
“We kindly request your office to address this matter with the Secretary (Telecom) for immediate intervention with the Government of Telangana,” the letter said.
“The Telangana Government has decided to remove the dangling wires from all the electric poles, following the electrocution incident that resulted in the death of five persons during a (religious) procession,” the letter said.
After receiving representations from Airtel and other stakeholders, the local Telecom officials had taken up the issue with the Special Chief Secretary (Information Technology, Electronics and Communication), Govt of Telangana,” he said.
He said the department requested the State Government to give sufficient time to telecom service providers to remove the cables from the electric poles.
COAI condemnation
Meanwhile, the COAI strongly condemned the continued and unlawful fiber cuts being carried out by the TGSPDCL (Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd) personnel in different parts of the city.
“These acts persist in defiance of the High Court’s ruling on August 22. The ruling restrained such destructive measures,” SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI, has said in a statement here on Tuesday.
“This severing of telecom fiber has led to widespread disruption of essential internet services. Over the last few days, this has worsened the situation and is affecting critical connectivity in both urban and rural areas,” he said. The Hindu BusinessLine