In cell age, how Nicobar isles fall off phone map

Once the early-warning systems failed, it was lack of communication links which let the Andamans down when disaster struck. With public sect...

Once the early-warning systems failed, it was lack of communication links which let the Andamans down when disaster struck. With public sector BSNL being the only telecom operator, in the area the tsunami virtually swept these islands off the communications map. It is a nightmare for those stranded on islands like Car Nicobar as it has been impossible to make a phone call.

Reliance and Airtel got their licences under the Unified Licence regime in February when West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar and Sikkim were clubbed together for a single licence. But they have not set up their networks citing questionable market viability. An Airtel spokesman said today operations would begin in the Andamans by March-end, ‘‘economics of the project notwithstanding.’’

But it was BSNL alone which operated both the landline and cellphone services in the islands, the latter restricted only to areas in and around Port Blair.

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A BSNL official said Port Blair and Andamans have not been affected. Car Nicobar and smaller islands are worse off as their old-fashioned exchanges are vulnerable unlike GSM and WLL networks. After losing 23 manual exchanges and and others damaged. BSNL dispatched 5 INMARSAT (satellite-based) terminals to work as PCOs .

In Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, where there are many telecom operators, the areas were saved from a complete disconnect. In Kairakkal near Pondicherry and Thiruvarur near Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, private operators came to the rescue of the authorities till BSNL got back into action. Airtel sent teams of employees and channel partners to set up crisis-call stations. BPL Mobile gave out 175 cellphones to authorities. BPL Mobile’s Rajeev Chandrashekhar said there was a 90 pc increase in telephone traffic yesterday due to people trying to get in touch with relatives. “This was met by relocating 18 to 20 of our portable cell towers to augment networks in the coastal areas.’’

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