Indian telecom industry has expressed its concerns about the local government’s decision to cut some of the cables in Bangalore.

The decision will impact revenue of telecom operator such as BSNL, Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio, among others.

Telecom industry has installed 130,200 Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) in Karnataka state to support telephone, mobile and internet communications – for an investment of INR 13,000 crore.

The telecom sector generates approx. INR 6,000 crore per annum in revenue in Karnataka state. Telecom sector contributes over INR 1,600 crore to the state by way of levies and taxes.

BBMP’s (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) decision to cut off optical fibre cable (OFC) of the telecom and internet service providers by treating over-the-ground cables as unauthorized is leading to outages to the citizens in populated areas.

The activity to disconnect cable may result in blocking of communication in Bangalore, the IT hub of India.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Tower & Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) have demanded that BBMP must stop this regressive fibre cutting drive immediately, as it is damaging operations of businesses and individual customers.

Karnataka should formulate a state tower policy that is aligned with Right of Way rules dated November 2016 issued by the India Government to facilitate smooth deployment of telecom infrastructure across the city, they demanded.

“Such fibre cutting activities will hurt businesses, citizens and Government services in the Silicon Valley of India immensely,” Rajan S Mathews, director general of COAI, said.

“This impulsive action will impact the overall internet connectivity and businesses especially IT firms in Bangalore,” TR Dua, director general of TAIPA, said.