Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is offering Rs 200 worth of free talktime to customers. But this is not for everyone. Only customers in the Thoothukudi district can avail of the offer. The offer is available for prepaid customers between Dec 25 to Dec 29. This is because people living in the region are affected due to a flood. In fact, BSNL is also offering intra-circle roaming (ICR) so that customers of other telecom operators can use its network to stay connected to the outside world.
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According to a report from TheNewIndianExpress, D Tamizhmani, Chief General Manager for BSNL Tamil Nadu, the BTS (Base Trans-receiver Station) should be placed four feet above the ground in flood-prone regions. This is to protect the BTS from getting damaged. Over 70% of the BTS in all the taluks have sustained heavy damage due to the flood. In addition, in many regions nearby, BSNL's optical fiber cable (OFC) also got washed away, the report said.
As per Tamizhmani, 69 BTS attached to nine exchanges are currently non-operational due to the damage. To restore them, over 200 people which includes 100 technical experts are working. Compared to the private telecom operators, BSNL has more BTS there, and many of the state-run telco's customers live in rural areas. According to the BSNL Chief GM, if the cellular towers were not damaged, people could have been evacuated much faster from the flood-hit areas.
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Apart from ICR, BSNL has also brought two CoW (Cell on Wheel) from Tirunelveli and Cuddalore and installed them at the collectorate and Eral. But BSNL has managed to get networks in many areas up and running. Tamizhmani said that 90% of the FTTH (fiber-to-the-Home) internet connections have been restored and the work is underway to restore the remaining as quickly as possible.
