Dist admns told to ensure safety of telecom infra

Bhubaneswar: The state government has asked collectors and SPs to ensure safety and security of telecom infrastructure in their districts. The electronics and information technology (E&IT) department last week wrote to the district authorities following a rise in cases related to theft of expensive equipment from the telecom sites in different districts.
“Telecom infrastructure is the base of all new-age communications and connectivity. Their safe keeping will ensure uninterrupted delivery of e-governance and digital services to the people. However, miscreants have been stealing telecom infrastructure from tower sites. It is requested to discuss such issues with the SPs and take prompt preventive action,” read a letter by E&IT department’s additional secretary Manoj Kumar Pattnaik.
The government intervened following a request by the telecom infrastructure providers (IPs) in the state. In January this year, the telecom IPs had written a letter to the chief secretary Suresh Mahapatra and urged the government to direct the police to act tough on theft and sabotage at telecom tower sites. They also drew the attention of DGP Sunil Bansal to the alleged police inaction in such cases.
“While the equipment is stolen, we are not able to claim the loss from insurance companies in the absence of FIR. There is also an increase in cases of sabotage of telecom towers,” the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) said in their letter.