ISP's in Guwahati May be Forced to Shut Down as APDCL Raises Monthly Rental by 400%

GUWAHATI: Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) recently came into limelight when they announced an abnormal hike in the rental of the monthly rental of electricity poles used by the private internet service providers (ISP) in Guwahati.

According to the All Guwahati Internet Service Providers Association (AGISPA), the APDCL which is a public limited company wholly owned by the Government of Assam raised the tariff to 400 per cent.

Allegedly, the company which previously used to charge Rs 20 a month now have raised the tariff to Rs 80 which is around 400 per cent.

In a press meet held today the AGISPA in a release stated that "Most respectfully may we the undersigned request you to publish/telecast/ cover the following PRESS RELEASE related with the situation created by an unfair hike of the monthly rental by APDCL of poles of Electricity used by Internet Service Providers of Guwahati.

Your kind cooperation shall be a source of great encouragement for the hundreds of individuals struggling to overcome the crisis & above all, enlighten the public about the conspiracy hatched by corporate to deprive them of the facility for availing services from multiple service providers at reasonable rates."

Speaking to Sentinel, Manabendra Deka, General Secretary, AGISPA said, " We have formally made this press meet today. Tomorrow we will be requesting the authorities at APDCL to review the tariff."

"If they do not agree to our demands we will have no other choice other than shutting down our services," he added.

It is to be mentioned that with the advent of Jio Communication in Guwahati most of the private ISP's in the city is already in a bad shape and with the new tariff in place, the owners will be incurring a further loss. 

Notably, in Guwahati, there are around 30 private internet service providers in Guwahati which employed around 1300 people while in Assam there are more than 150 private players.

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