ITANAGAR, April 29 - At a time when Union Government is planning to set up seven advanced landing grounds in Arunachal Pradesh, besides upgrading the existing ones, people in this border State are still grappling with cellular connectivity issues.
In the mountain villages of Arunachal, people are greeted with a message from a Chinese mobile network, every time they turn their phones on.
The villagers, along the entire 1,126 km-long border in Arunachal, get signals from a leading telecom player in China, a source in Army said here.
�The signals are strong enough to stretch up to 10 km on the Indian side,� he said. The situation is similar for border towns in the west too, where Pakistani networks work better than their counterparts here, the Army source stated. The country�s mobile services are unable to operate in the border areas due to a Central Government policy, he said.
�The government allows only a limited number of towers of a certain frequency in the border areas. As a result, people here receive signals from Chinese telecom companies,� the source said.
People often get frustrated with the erratic network signals, said Joney Yaying, a resident of Zido village in upper Siang district of the State. �Leave alone Internet banking, we cannot access Internet or WhatsApp like others in the country,� he added.
Pema Nyisur, another villager from Gelling village in the district, said mobile service providers have erected limited number of towers in the border areas.
�If the telecom players do not install more towers, uninterrupted service will remain a distant dream for us,� Nyisur added. Until a few years ago, Chamlang village in Anjaw district did not have landline connectivity, said Mailu Tega, a social worker.
In January, a top service provider had set up towers in some of the remote districts of the State. Another telecom company is expected to expand its services in upper Siang district later this year. � PTI
