More cell towers die in Noida, residents complain of call drops, disrupted internet

NOIDA: More than half of the 500 mobile phone towers in Noida have gone off the grid after they ran out of back-up power on Sunday . This affected mobile and Internet connectivity across the city. Residents complained of dropped calls and disrupted Wi-Fi services even as the stalemate between Noida Authority , telecom operators and the RTA (Residents’ Tower Association) continued for the third day .

Power connection was snapped by RTA on Friday -an association of house owners on whose premises cellphone towers are installed -after they received show-cause notices from Noida Authority asking them to remove the towers from residential areas or face cancellation of land lease.

The worst hit areas were sectors 12, 14, 15A, 17A, 22 and 50, as residents here complained that either their calls were not getting routed or were getting disconnected for no apparent reason. Residents said the situation must be sorted out immediately as it is affecting their personal as well as official communications.

“This is harassment. Why are we being made to suffer in this tussle?” asked Vinod Kumar, a businessman based in Sector 18. “My entire office is run through my mobile phone. Business is getting affected,” lamented Jagbeer Khatana, a property consultant.

However, even as Noida moves towards a total disruption of telephony services, RTA members said they were helpless as they face cancellation of lease deeds. “Till Saturday evening, nearly 150 towers had run out of back-up power supply and had shut down service.On Sunday , another 55 to 60 towers stopped functioning. The rest will continue to shut down if no solution is found,” said Satish Batra, president of RTA.

Speaking to TOI, director gen eral of Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) Rajan Mathews warned that unless the `coercive’ notices are withdrawn by Noida Authority , a connectivity breakdown would impact customers. “We want to provide the best services, but our hands are tied and land owners also can’t do much as they are scared of losing their property ,” he said, adding only the Authority could end the deadlock.

Gautam Budh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma also slammed the Authority for “bad planning”, saying it needs to adopt a systemic approach to solve the issue. “The solution lies in shifting the towers in a phased manner from residential, school and hospital areas so that no one is inconvenienced,” said Sharma.

Noida Authority officials, however, assured there would be no connectivity breakdown and said the move was a pressure tactic to speed up relocation of cell towers from residential areas. Officials said representatives of COAI had been assured of no coercive action until a proper solution was found in a meeting on March 18, and that they would stand by what was decided there. “We definitely do not want residents to suffer,” said V K Pawar, additional CEO of Noida.