Hyderabad: There was a time when the cable mafia was ruling the roost in the old city. Now it is the Internet mafia who is calling the shots. There is none who can challenge the hegemony of this mafia in the old city who seemed to have powerful political patronage behind them.
Unlike the new city, the cable laying works ACT, BSNL and JIO was not possible so far thanks mainly to this mafia. As a result, the people in the old city are forced to use the slow and costly internet service.
Private internet providers have laid their optic cables in many areas of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Airtel fibre optic service too had commenced elsewhere. About the lack of optic cable service in the old city, it is said that not only the private internet service providers even the BSNL’s fibre optic cable laying is impeded. Those behind this scenario enjoy political patronage and no one dares to raise their voice against their bullying. Since no one complains, the police does not take action.
BSNL officials say that they are not able to lay their cables in the old city areas due mainly to the hurdles being created by the vested interests. Private service providers do not bicker with this mafia as they are worried about the safety of their cables and other assets. So they focus to provide their broadband service in the suburbs and new areas of the city. They only provide wireless internet connections to the users in the old city.
The hegemony of the internet mafia in the old city is reminiscent of the old times when the cable TV operators had a sway and they still continue to operate in the slum areas of the old city.
In a time when online classes and work from home by the IT companies is picking up, and when the internet has become a necessity of each household, using the slow and costly internet service has become a compulsion of the old city inhabitants with no quality choices. This predicament seems more ironical in view of the state government’s claim to provide quality internet service to every household in the state.
