Farmers agitation: COAI condemns sabotage of telecom infra as form of protest

Farmers agitation: COAI condemns sabotage of telecom infra as form of protest

The statement comes after more than 1,500 mobile towers were damaged during farmers' stir in Punjab.

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Tuesday, December 29, 2020, 03:58 PM IST
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The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Tuesday said it strongly condemns the sabotaging of telecom network infrastructure and disruption of services as a form of protest. The statement comes after more than1,500 mobile towers were damaged during farmers' stir in Punjab. This has disrupted services in some pockets.

COAI's Director General, SP Kochhar in a statement said disruption of telecom services is causing immense inconvenience to the common man, for whom mobile services are "essential".

"While we respect people's right to protest on any issue, sabotaging the telecom network infrastructure and disrupting telecom services as a form of protest by anyone is strongly condemned," the statement read.

Apex industry body COAI's members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.

Power supply to towers that relay telecom signals was snapped and cables cut in several parts of the state as farmers vented their anger on the infrastructure owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani's firm Jio as they saw him and Gautam Adani as major beneficiaries of the new laws.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday directed police to take strict action against vandalisation of mobile towers and disruption of telecom services in the state during the farmers' stir against the farm laws.

COAI further said telecom services are the lifeline of lakhs of customers, including students taking online classes, professionals working from home, people going for online health consultations in the tough time of COVID-19.

"The disruption of telecom services, which are considered 'essential' under various enactments, is causing immense inconvenience to the common man for whom the mobile services are so essential," COAI's Kochhar said.

During the lockdown and the continuing pandemic, "warriors of the telecom sector" worked tirelessly to provide seamless and uninterrupted connectivity across the length and breadth of the country through doorstep delivery, infrastructure augmentation and 24x7 network support, Kochhar added.

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