Freeing city of overhead cables in limbo
Jamal Uddin | Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Jamal Uddin
The government decision to free the capital of the dreadful web of overhead cables could not be fully implemented due to lack of coordination among the executing agencies. Officials of Power Ministry, Internet Service Provider's (ISP) Association of Bangladesh and Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) have been blaming each other for the delay. Two NTTN companies were given licences by the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to lay the main underground cables while the ISP's responsibility was to connect their individual lines to the underground cable by severing the overhead connections. The ISP's blamed the NTTN for not completing their job fully which was refuted by the latter. Deputy Secretary of Power Ministry Anwar Hossain told FE that several rounds of meetings were held with the stakeholders to resolve the issue. "But work is going ahead," he added. To monitor the overall activities a committee headed by a Joint Secretary of Power Division has been constituted with representatives from Dhaka City Corporation, Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO), BTRC, Fiber@Home, Summit Communications, Internet Service Providers' Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) and Cable Operators' Association of Bangladesh (COAB). The ISPs, however, removed the hanging overhead wires from Uttara - Mohakhali-Birshreshtha Jahangir Gate- Shahbagh route on December 16.
The government decision to free the capital of the dreadful web of overhead cables could not be fully implemented due to lack of coordination among the executing agencies. Officials of Power Ministry, Internet Service Provider's (ISP) Association of Bangladesh and Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) have been blaming each other for the delay. Two NTTN companies were given licences by the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to lay the main underground cables while the ISP's responsibility was to connect their individual lines to the underground cable by severing the overhead connections. The ISP's blamed the NTTN for not completing their job fully which was refuted by the latter. Deputy Secretary of Power Ministry Anwar Hossain told FE that several rounds of meetings were held with the stakeholders to resolve the issue. "But work is going ahead," he added. To monitor the overall activities a committee headed by a Joint Secretary of Power Division has been constituted with representatives from Dhaka City Corporation, Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO), BTRC, Fiber@Home, Summit Communications, Internet Service Providers' Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) and Cable Operators' Association of Bangladesh (COAB). The ISPs, however, removed the hanging overhead wires from Uttara - Mohakhali-Birshreshtha Jahangir Gate- Shahbagh route on December 16.