Telcos use alternative sources for power in Chandigarh outage

Mobile operators' association COAI on Wednesday said that the power outage in parts of Chandigarh has impacted telecom towers and disrupted mobile network connectivity in certain areas, and telcos are talking all measures to power their sites and exchanges by using alternate sources.

COAI's comments came as many parts in Chandigarh continued to face power outage on Tuesday, a day after employees of the electricity department launched a three-day strike in protest against privatisation.

Due to the strike by the union of employees in the electricity department of Chandigarh, there have been instances of power outages in some parts of the city, COAI said in a statement.

"This has impacted telecom towers, which is leading to disruption in mobile network connectivity in impacted areas. Telecom operators and infrastructure providers are taking all measures to power their sites, exchanges by using alternate sources batteries, DGs, solar panels etc. in the absence of EB supply in some areas," SP Kochhar, Director General of COAI said.

Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) is an apex body of telecom operators, and its members include Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea.

Meanwhile, the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (formerly TAIPA), which is a leading body of telecom infrastructure players, has sought urgent intervention from authorities to resolve the issue.

"Due to the ongoing electricity crisis in Chandigarh, telecom services are badly impacted in all the areas of UT and nearby states. Telecom towers in Chandigarh are fully dependent on the electric grid supply," Digital Infrastructure Providers Association, DIPA, said in a statement.

During the ongoing crisis, there have been incidents of telecom network outages in these areas, DIPA said and warned that if the crisis is not resolved immediately it "may impact the telecom network connectivity in a big way".

"We have requested Banwarilal Purohit, Administrator, Chandigarh to ensure the resolution of the ongoing electricity crisis on war footing basis and make necessary arrangements to provide continuous Electricity Supply on mobile communication tower sites to enable telecom companies to provide seamless telecom network connectivity to the public at large," TR Dua Director-General DIPA said.