Cable damage puts Airtel services on the blink in Bangalore

Mobile communication services of telecom company Airtel was disrupted in the city for more than half-an-hour on Thursday, following a technical snag. The problem began at 7.30pm when mobile users experienced a network problem, followed by scores of complaints to the service provider.

While some faced calls drops, others complained they were not able to access messaging services.

Airtel attributed this to the damages caused to its optical fibre cable network at few places. It claimed this might have happened due to the ongoing construction work being carried out either by private parties or civic authorities. Officials said the services were restored within 20 minutes.

“I was on an important call. Suddenly, the call dropped and my phone showed no network,” said a mobile user.

“Initially, I thought that my handset was malfunctioning, but when many people near me too experienced the same problem, we realised that the problem lay with the service provider,” he added.
Even after the officials claimed that the services were restored, many subscribers complained they were still not able access the network. Airtel officials, however, said this was because as soon as the services were restored, there was a rush and resulting in a jam in the network.