Lockdown hits BSNL supply chain

SHILLONG: The lockdown has affected BSNL’s work as procuring materials like optical fibre has become a problem.
B Chandra Sekhar, the chief general manager of BSNL for Meghalaya-Tripura-Mizoram circle, told The Shillong Times that the fibre and other spare parts would be supplied from Guwahati or Kolkata. “But the lockdown has slowed BSNL work,” he said. When pointed out that mobile network of the service provider is erratic and sometimes non-existent in remote places and border areas, the official admitted that there are “certain problems but we are trying to solve them”.
BSNL is planning to put up a mobile tower in Sohra that will cover 25 villages, including areas like Shella and Ichhamati. “The site has been identified and the work to set up the mobile tower will start after the lockdown is eased,” he added.
It takes 4-5 weeks to set up a mobile tower at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.
The CGM pointed out hurdles which BSNL’s field workers face. Citing the example of Sohra, he said village headmen there did not allow his staff to enter the villages when they went to fix a faulty connection. “In Shillong, there are no such problems,” he added.
Setting up towers is a costly affair and BSNL currently does not have the wherewithal to do it. So it is seeking the Centre’s help to put up towers in rural and border areas.
Chandra Sekhar said there is a delay in attending to the complaints because of the lockdown but they are attending to the grievances of the customers “as readily as possible”. He also spoke about BSNL Skylo, which is a satellite-based connectivity, and will help people use the facility during emergency using a hand-held terminal. The device, which costs Rs 10,000, is, however, not individuals.
On Bangladesh getting the upper hand in telecommunications in the border areas, Chandra Sekhar said that the matter was taken up in a meeting convened by the Department of Telecommunications two years ago and “we will send a reminder to the department again”.
BSNL is the service provider to a major chunk of mobile users in the state.
In 2018, there were 520 fibre home connections, which have gone up to 17,000. There are currently 835 mobile towers and the number of new mobile towers planned to be set up is 350.