Poor mobile coverage poses security risk in northeast

A delay in improving mobile coverage in the northeast has irked the ministry of home affairs, with officials fearing an escalation in security risk due to people using signals from Myanmar for communication.

With northeastern states sharing the border with Myanmar, security officials feel that the ‘communication voids’ due to poor mobile connectivity is creating more trouble as it could lead to a surge in anger among the locals.

The department of telecom had last year invited bids for setting up 6,673 towers in 8,621 uncovered villages of eight northeastern states and 321 on national highways. However, officials said very little progress has been made in the matter, prompting the ministry to suggest that BSNL might be asked to set up towers in these border areas.

The issue was raised by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in November in a letter to his counterpart in the telecom department, J S Deepak, while assuring ‘all necessary help’ in terms of coordination with state governments to facilitate the creation of infrastructure.