Mobile telephony services continue to be affected in Chennai

Mobile telephony services continued to be impacted in Tamil Nadu's three cyclone-affected districts of Chennai, Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram on Wednesday.

Compared to private players the services of public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) seems to be better, said some people.

"While BSNL's mobile service is okay during the testing times, it is the company's landline service that worked well," V. Revathi a home maker told IANS.

Cyclone Vardah that crossed Chennai coast on Monday uprooted several trees, electric poles, lamp posts and also damaged mobile telephony towers, affecting services.

"The cyclone Vardah which paralysed Chennai and nearby areas caused disruption of some of our services as well. Our on ground teams are working on war footing to restore services in the shortest possible time," said S.Murali, Business Head, Tamil Nadu, Vodafone India.

"Almost all services in these locations are almost back to normal, the voice and data services in and around some areas are being progressively restored and we should soon be in back to normalcy," he added.

On the other hand Bharti Airtel Ltd on Wednesday continued to maintain that one of its international undersea cables was damaged and internet traffic has been partially impacted.

The officials at Bharti Airtel's Chennai and New Delhi offices were not available for clarifications despite several attempts by IANS.

Speaking to IANS, an official of Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Hyderabad, said: "A cyclone can damage a submarine cable while it is nearing the coast. But it also depends on the kind of safety precautions taken and at what depth the cable was laid."

--IANS

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