Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh yesterday called an hour’s strike from 11:00am Tuesday to protest the removal of overhead cables on utility poles on Dhaka’s thoroughfares.
Demanding that the government ensure them all facilities to install the cables underground, the ISPAB also threatened an indefinite strike from next week if the government did not make any.
Meanwhile, cut cables dangle from poles and roll on the streets with the government and the ISPAB and cable operators saying they are not the ones responsible for removing those wires. The cables nag at pedestrians and motorists.
The ISPAB made the decision at a meeting at its Gulshan office yesterday, ISPAB President Akhtaruzzaman Manju told The Daily Star.
“We want to set our cables underground. But the NTTN [Nationwide Telecommunications Transmission Network] companies could not complete their job within the government deadline,” he said, adding that the deadline was December 1.
He said both the companies are yet to finish the network installation job.
Claiming that the authorities are removing the overhead cables “irrationally”, Manju said, “We have no alternative but to go for the strike.”
All ISPAB data link and Internet link will remain switched off during the strike.
Meanwhile, Maj Gen (retd) Zia Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), sat with the ISPAB leaders yesterday evening to listen to their concerns.
“The chairman assured us of taking necessary steps to resolve the problem after we placed our demands,” Manju said.
ISPAB operates under BTRC and serves around 50 lakh Internet users across the country, including 35 lakh in the city, he said.
Talking on the removal of the cables, Engineer Shahjahan Mia, general manager (engineering and system control) of Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco), said, “They [ISPs and cable operators] have been given time in phases to remove their cables.”
Meanwhile, the power ministry has called a meeting today to discuss the future of the drive. Power Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad is scheduled to chair the meeting.
Desco and Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) launched the crackdown against overhead Internet and cable TV wires on city thoroughfares on December 12 from Shahbagh to Uttara.
Anwar Parvez, former president of Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh (COAB), claimed they incurred a loss of around Tk 20 crore due to the drive.
“The cables have been cut in short pieces and those can’t be reused,” he said.
Nasir Jamil, managing partner of Interconnect Satellite System working in Uttara, said he can provide very few TV channels to the subscribers since the government launched the drive and the quality of picture is very poor.
Meanwhile, replying to a query on removal of the cables from the streets after those are cut, the government said the ISPAB and the COAB are responsible for the removal. The ISPAB and the COAB, however, blamed the government for not removing those.
