Bescom inches towards mandating underground OFC cabling

Bengaluru: The city may finally rid its skyline of unsightly overhead Optical Fibre Cables (OFCs), with Bescom moving to mandate underground cabling for all telecom and broadband companies.

In partnership with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) will require the service providers to shift their overhead cables to underground ducts.

In 2019, Bescom commissioned the project to create ducts for OFCs with underground cabling, which actually began in 2022, and ducts were created by 2024.

Bescom data stated that 3,377.26 km of 50/42 mm ducts and 3,131.71 km of 40/33 mm ducts have been dedicated to OFCs, along with 18,591 manholes for connectivity. Despite offering leasing options, no service provider showed interest, prompting Bescom to mandate it.

A senior Bescom official said the motive to build ducts is to prevent illegal overhead OFC cables that endanger the lives of pedestrians and motorists.

In January, a 26-year-old techie died when his scooter skidded on an entangled OFC cable, leading to a fatal accident with a BMTC bus. Over 10 minor accidents occurred last year involving OFC cables.

"When we rolled out an offer of leasing ducts, no service provider showed interest. But illegal lines grew, increasing the risk of accidents,” the official noted. 

Despite relentlessly clearing hanging cables, service providers kept stringing them back due to lack of penalising policy, the official added. They showed little interest in Bescom’s offer of dark fibre cables in the event of them switching to underground ducts.

But interest surged among service providers when the BBMP introduced a rental system for the ducts created under its TenderSURE roads, encouraging Bescom to adopt a similar system.

Bescom sees underground cabling as a move to make streets safe and maintain the city’s aesthetic appeal.

An official with the knowledge of the project pointed out: “Bescom saw underground ducts as a revenue-generating method.”

A third Bescom official noted that they are deciding on the rental charges for accessing ducts and the onus of maintenance. Once that is decided in coordination with the BBMP, Bescom will finalise mandating the use of ducts for service providers.