JOIN USTelecom firms have finally fallen in line by agreeing to regularise the unauthorised optical fibre cables (OFCs) laid across the City.
N R Ramesh, chairperson of the Palike committee on OFCs, said the firms had agreed to pay the fine and regularise the cables laid by them. The decision was arrived at a meeting chaired by Mayor B S Satyanarayana, in which the executives of the telecom firms were present. On Monday, the BBMP will enter into an agreement with the telecom firms to disclose and regularise all the unauthorised OFCs laid in the City.
Ramesh said the BBMP had introduced e-filing system to apply for permission to lay cables. The stipulated fee could be paid online. The request should come from the chief executive officers of the firms, either in person or by e-mail. The application should mention the total length of the road to be dug up for laying cables. The OFC division of the Palike will prepare a bill detailing the OFC laying charges, ground rent and road cutting charges. The telecom firms will have to pay the amount online. “The system, if implemented, will fetch Palike a minimum of Rs 500 crore,” Ramesh claimed.
The Palike had constituted a committee headed by Ramesh to look into the irregularities in laying of OFCs in the City. The panel tabled its 4,700-page report in the Palike Council meeting recently.