BSNL services crash during strike

Employees demand fincial package to turn loss-making BSNL around

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, April 22: Internet and mobile services of BSNL were disrupted across the state and country, in view of the two-day strike launched by employees of the public sector company to press for various demands. Internet connectivity was disrupted for most of the time during the day In Assam. Customers also complained about poor mobile services during the day.

“No sms was getting delivered. Nor did I receive any. I could not make calls throughout the day,” said Atul Thakur, a BSNL customer in Guwahati. Customers from Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Dhubri and other places of the State also complained of poor services.

“Everytime, you dial a number it says ‘call cannot be completed’. Other service providers also could not connect to BSNL customers,” said a customer in Jorhat.

Banking services were also affected due to the disruptions in Net connectivity.

Officials at the BSNL offices did not attend complaints from customers, insisting they were on strike.

The employees, including associations of non-executives and executives, had launched the two-day strike from yesterday to press the government to take steps for reviving the company and ensure its fincial viability.

The annual revenue of BSNL is continuously sliding down. The company has been suffering losses for the last five years. Only three circles in the country, mely Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Odisha have posted profits. The market share of the company has also gone down to 8.62 per cent.

“Thousands of landlines and even mobiles were being surrendered. If the situation continues, the company will have to be declared a sick company like MTNL,” the striking employees said in a statement.

Among the charter of demands of BSNL employees are: immediate procurement of equipments, compensation to BSNL for loss-making rural services, fincial assistance to BSNL to expand services, rejection of TRAI recommendation to surrender 1.2 MHz spectrum, refund of the spectrum charges of Rs 6,700 crore, launch of 4G services, fresh recruitment of staff and superannuation benefits.