BSNL disappoints customers

SHILLONG: Cellular connectivity in the capital city and other parts of the state is far from satisfactory owing to the less number of mobile towers.
This at a time when the Centre is talking about the concept of Digital India.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, information technology and communications minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said the state government has already taken up the matter about poor mobile connectivity with the BSNL and other private mobile companies. Lyngdoh said the biggest challenge for good mobile connection in the city and the state is the inability to convince people that mobile towers are safe and free from radiation.
“We are loggerheads and it has become difficult for us as we are not able to locate the ideal location for installation of towers,” Lyngdoh said.
Maintaining that there would be grey areas as long as people were not convinced about the safety of towers, Lyngdoh said the government was negotiating with people to allow the mobile towers to be installed on private premises.
Asked if government land could be utilised for setting up towers, she said government properties were limited and located in very isolated locations.
The state government had in the recent past organised awareness programmes to dispel fear of perceived radiation emitting out of towers, but the problem still persists.She also said it was high time that the mobile operators in the state and in the country should use latest technology for towers which would not pose any perceived radiation from it.
Internet disturbance
Whenever there is rain, the BSNL broadband connectivity is affected.People using BSNL broadband connectivity informed that since the private internet service providers use fibre, there was no disruption to the connectivity compared to the BSNL broadband which mostly depends on landline telephones to connect to the modem.
While the bill remains the same, the service provided by the BSNL is poor, a few customers alleged.