Five days on,BSNL phones out of order

The users complained of calls not getting through or suddenly halting after a dial tone.

Gurpreet Singh,a BSNL subscriber,said,”I have been facing this problem since Tuesday. The call does not get through,perhaps due to network congestion. My work suffered a lot during these days.” Sweeti,another user added,”I am also facing a similar problem. Whenever I try to make a call,the cellphone screen reads ‘error in connection’ or a computerised recorded message conveys,’the cellphone you are trying to reach is out of coverage area’. I feel so bugged,but there is no way out,” she added.

The local exchanges haven’t been able to pinpoint the exact problem as yet.

The Ludhiana Telecom general manager said: “I was informed about some fault in a particular area yesterday and got it rectified within half an hour. I have been monitoring the functioning of cellphone networks after every half an hour. I am trying to optimise the networking.” A K Deora Divisional Engineer Telecom (cellphones) was not available for comment.

Electricty cuts is the main problem at certain places. The Ludhiana Telecom GM added: “At certain places,we do not have auto-start generators and whenever there is a prolonged electricty cut,the batteries with a backup of four to five hours stop working. So,I have told the employees concerned either to contact Nokia company for providing batteries with more power backup or to maintain a strict vigil on their own for starting the generator if there is no auto-start generator.”