Set up mobile towers along Bangla border, Conrad urges Centre

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Saturday appealed to the Central government to remove the bottlenecks for setting up mobile towers along the Indo-Bangladesh border to ensure better connectivity in border areas.

"Due to network problem, the Border Security Force (BSF) deployed in Indo-Bangladesh border uses SIM cards of Bangladesh-based mobile companies," said Sangma, adding that it poses a threat to India's security.

"While Indian telecom companies are penalised if their signals cross the border, signals from the Bangladesh side come to India," Sangma said while speaking at a function here to mark the launch of Digital Northeast: Vision 2022.

Due to the penalty imposed on Indian telecom companies, they do not set up mobile towers along the international border so the jawans have to unwillingly use mobile networks from other countries, which adds to their call costs.

"It pains me to see that the BSF jawans have to make international calls to talk to their family members," the Chief Minister said.

Referring to the Union government's decision to install 2,000 towers in Meghalaya, Sangma appealed to the government to cover the border areas so that the people get better digital connectivity.

--IANS

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