Concern in LS over BSNL, MTNL connectivity problems

Members in the Lok Sabha today expressed concern over the sorry state of affairs in state owned BSNL and MTNL which is hitting hard millions of mobile users all over the country daily due to poor connectivity.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, K Geetha (YSR Cong) said MPs who have got BSNL mobile connections face the problem of dropping of calls in spite of being connected through MTNL.
Geetha got instant support from all sides. She wondered whether the problem in the BSNL mobile services were due to private players playing dirty or inefficiency of the state- owned telecom operator.

She said the poor connectivity was due to several telecom towers of the BSNL either not in operation or operating erratically.
Supporting her, Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena) alleged this was being done deliberately to suit the private players.
Balabhadra Majhi (BJD) complained that only last month he had to force the authorities to postpone the examinations for postmen recruitment as several of the aspirants from his constituency comprising Malkangiri and Navrangpur district could not download the admission cards due to poor connectivity.

BJP member Narayanbhai Kachhadiya also said 15 BSNL towers were installed several years ago to serve 800 villages in western Gujarat but have not been activated yet and there was no connectivity in most of the region.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu conceded that this was indeed a problem and he had seen the poor connectivity at Vishakhapattanam where students or job aspirants were not able to apply online.
He said he would convey the members' concern to the Communications Minister so that steps to rectify the problems are taken soon.