Shivamogga Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra has appealed to Union Minister for Communications and Electronics Ashwini Vaishnaw to improve the telecommunication facilities in Shivamogga and Udupi districts.
Mr. Raghavendra met the Minister in Delhi on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum on this issue.
The MP gave a list of 96 villages spread across his constituency, including parts of Udupi district, which do not enjoy the services of Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP). He said these villages were located in hilly terrain and, unless mobile connectivity were extended, there would remain remote.
“In rural areas, where BSNL has extended mobile connectivity, most of the time their services will be down due to non-availability of alternative power supply leading to a lot of difficulties and hampering development activities” he said.
He also said the FTTH connectivity in gram panchayats in Shivamogga district had been poor. At least 40 % of the connections had been down for a long period. The MP urged the Minister to sanction Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for new mobile sites and instruct the people concerned to improve BSNL rural services.
Many villages in Shivamogga district hardly get telephone and internet facilities. During the COVID-19 lockdown period, students, who were attending online classes, had to go in search of vantage locations to get better internet connectivity.
