BSNL demands walkway tunnels to protect cables

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has urged the State government to set up walkway tunnels across the City to ensure protection of optic fibres.

It has come to light that constant ongoing civic works have been causing damage to cables, affecting BSNL broadband services.

BSNL has been receiving several complaints from consumers in this regard. “We receive around 1,000 complaints a day. Most complaints are received from highly congested areas such as Jayanagar and JP Nagar and upcoming areas such as Whitefield and Bellary Road,” said K L Jairam, Principal General Manager, Bengaluru Telecom District.

Jairam added that these areas have a high concentration of broadband users and they often complain about slow internet service, no internet connection, cable problems and poor download speed. 

“We have often seen that these issues occur when cable lines are damaged due to ongoing civic works. Thus, to eliminate this and ensure cost-effective service from BSNL, we want walkway tunnels,” Jairam said. Such tunnels exist in many developed cities across the globe. It is also one of the key elements in the Smart City concept of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

These tunnels protect optic fibre cables or any other cables laid from damage.This is essential for Bengaluru because constant civil works damage the cables laid by BSNL. According to Jayaram, BBMP charges Rs 1,000 to 1,200 to lay one metre of the optic fibre cable which costs Rs 18. 

“We also have to pay right of way charges which is above Rs 500, horizontal boring charges of Rs 500 to 600 to the contractor and supervision charges. Due to the cost factor, we have been unable to provide connections to all people and even repair lines. Thus, the number of complaints keep increasing.” Reacting to this, BBMP commissioner Lakshminarayana said that charges are the same for all organisations and cannot be altered for BSNL alone. 

“Repairing and relaying the cables is not my look out. Civic works are a continuous process. The tunnels which they are demanding are being created on TenderSure roads and will be spread across the City gradually. But presently the focus is only in some areas.”