Palike to crack down on illegal OFCs

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is set to launch a major crackdown against illegally laid Optical Fibre Cables (OFCs), which have caused an annual loss of Rs 5,000 crore to the civic authority.

Hell-bent on taking action, the Palike will flash public notices against telecom firms shortly, announcing that it will cut all illegal OFCs.

It will seek people’s co-operation for the inconvenience caused to them, due to false and misleading information by the telecom firms to the BBMP.

The issue gained prominence when several corporators raised their voice, inside and outside the Palike Council, alleging revenue loss to the BBMP.

Taking a serious note of it, the Palike directed the telecom firms to file affidavits detailing the OFCs they have laid in the City. Though the firms gave it in writing that they have laid only 800 km of OFCs, none of them have, in fact, submitted any affidavit, Palike sources said.

Misleading information

Deputy Mayor S Harish told Deccan Herald that only 16 telecom firms have provided information, which is again misleading.

“We are aware that the telecom firms have laid 32,000-km long OFCs in the City, but they are asserting that only 800-km long OFCs have been laid. This is false and misleading. We are left with no other option but to disconnect all the illegally laid OFC lines,” he said.

The Palike has been charging Rs 150 per metre for laying the cables, but now it has enhanced the same to Rs 300 per metre. Going by the previous rate, the Palike should get at least Rs 480 crore, while, at the enhanced rate, the total revenue will shoot up to Rs 960 crore.

In addition, the Palike has fixed a rental charge of Rs 120 per metre, per month, which would generate a monthly revenue of Rs 384 crore. Altogether, the Palike’s income from telecom firms should be somewhere around Rs 5,000 crore per annum.

“This is a not a huge sum (Rs 5,000 crore) for the telecom firms, given the fact that their revenue per year itself is somewhere around Rs 30,000 crore,” the deputy mayor said.

Besides revenue loss, the OFC lines are blamed for contributing to the poor condition of roads, which are already in bad condition due to rain and other infrastructure projects.

Many companies have put cable lines inside the BWSSB’s sewerage line, leading to choking of drains.