CellOne subscribers in this Barak Valley district apparently have had enough of BSNL’s poor standard of service.

Even Union minister Sontosh Mohan Dev has been quoted as saying that he is fed up??? with network disruptions across the Barak Valley.

Surprisingly, the strident criticism from all quarters seems to have had no effect on BSNL officials. We can’t do anything about faults in the GPRS service. Internet services are regulated by the Calcutta office,??? a senior official of the Hailakandi Telephone Exchange said.

The district has about 13,500 pre-paid and post-paid subscribers and, among them, more than 1,000 have GPRS (general packet radio service) connections.

GPRS is a data service through which people on the move can surf the net or send emails at moderate Internet speeds.

The Silchar-based general manager of BSNL (south Assam zone), Sri Ram, put the blame for poor GPRS service on the Hailakandi telecom office.

With the GPRS service not serving its purpose, Internet subscribers in Hailakandi — numbering about 350 — have been demanding a broadband-enabled network.A cyber caf© owner in Hailakandi town said his business was on the decline because of BSNL’s inability to maintain its network.

Officials said damage to optical fibre cables along the Assam-Meghalaya border was responsible for the faults.

While BSNL falters, two private telecom companies have roped in 5,000-odd customers and are providing hassle-free services. Most CellOne subscribers say they will switch over to these private mobile service-providers.

Source- http://www.telegraphindia.com