All you need to know about Internet outage in Hyderabad
Hyderabad is reeling under a massive internet outage after TGSPDCL cut dangling wires from poles on government orders. Over one lakh connections were affected, sparking public outrage, ISP protests, and a High Court case. Interim relief has halted further cable removal.
Hyderabad: Hyderabad is currently experiencing a significant internet outage affecting multiple areas, including Ameerpet, Balanagar, Kompally, Shaikpet, Banjara Hills, Kokapet and Tellapur.
The internet disruption began on August 19, ie on Tuesday, after orders from Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka. The Deputy Chief Minister has instructed TGSPDCL officials to take down all the additional dangling wires connected to the electric poles across the city.
The move comes amid the recent electrocutio mishaps in the city. On August 18, six people were electrocuted in Ramanthapur area while taking out a rath yatra marking Sri Krishna Janmashtami.
Following this the Congress government ordered the chopping off all other wires on the electric poles. The TGSPDCL personnel armed with heavy duty cable cutters began cutting all the cables from electric poles leading to a massive internet outage.
Rough estimates indicate that by Wednesday evening, over one lakh connections were disrupted across the city.
The abrupt removal of these cables has led to widespread outages of fiber-to-home broadband services, severely impacting I-T professionals who are working from home, digital transactions, and surveillance systems in residential areas.
With the internet outage taking over city, it has sparked huge public outrage. People expressed anger on social media claiming their works are getting affected over the loss of connectivity. Some of the netizens also claimed that they have lost their jobs because of this unannounced move by the government.
One user, posting under the username @SaveTheSystem, wrote: “I lost my job today due to internet disconnection. Thanks to the government. I can stop paying taxes and live a happy life provided by the government. #Savethesystem.”
Another user, @halleyji, commented: “Should have planned better even if it was in the interest of public safety. Many internet service providers are down due to this action and affecting people who WFH (sic).”
Similarly, @pranaykumar562 said: “No prior notice to public, neither from ISP nor from TGSPDCL. How do you expect people working from home to work?” while tagging Telangana CMO, Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Ironically, last week, the employees of the I-T corridor were advised by the government to work-from-home in the wake of heavy rain alert by IMD.
Meanwhile, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has criticized TGSPDCL for indiscriminately cutting optical fiber cables, lamenting that these cables do not carry electricity and are unrelated to power infrastructure. COAI also urged the electricity department to refrain from such actions to avoid severe disruptions to essential internet services.
In response to the outages, the Telangana Internet Service Providers Association (TISPA) held a protest at TGSPDCL headquarters, requesting an immediate halt to the cable cutting. TISPA officials met with TGSPDCL CMD Musharraf Ali to discuss the issue, highlighting the lack of prior notice to internet service providers and customers.
On Wednesday, internet broadband company Bharti Airtel filed a writ petition with the High Court of Telangana, challenging the removal of its optic fibres without any prior notices. Reacting to it, Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka issued notices to the GHMC and TGSPDCL.
Granting interim relief, the Court directed that no further cables be removed until the next hearing and posted the matter to Friday.
While TGSPDCL maintains that the cable removal is necessary for public safety, the lack of coordination with internet service providers and the absence of prior notice have led to significant inconvenience for residents and businesses relying on stable internet connections.
