Telecom News Bulletin

Flood devastated areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are not only facing acute shortage of drinking water and food items but they are without any telecommunication facility for the last one week. Locals in Nowshera, Charsadda, and adjoining areas have complained that the mobile telephone companies who had been earning billions of rupees from the Province are showing no urgency to at least provide communication links to the affected people.

Gul Sher Khan, a resident of Nowshera said that people are desperate to contact their near and dear ones to know about welfare being they do not receive signals of all the mobile companies. Another resident of the worst flood hit city Sher Zaman said that cut off in the communication links has added to their sufferings. He was of the view that had the communication system been functioning, they could have contacted the authorities to bring to their notice about their problems and needs.

Similar is the situation in Charsadda where people are not only angry over the lack of attention of the Provincial Government and their elected representatives to their difficulties but also highly critical of the cellular companies as well. Mohammad Azam, a retailer said that he has exhausted all his stocks and unable to contact his suppliers. He said though the road links have been adversely affected, there was no justification that the mobile companies whose towers are every where were unable to restore the communication links.

According to reports from Mangora, Kabal and other far flung areas of Malakand and Swat, people are not receiving mobile signals. People there say that they wanted to be in touch with relatives and family members in other parts of the country and inform them about the loss of life, property and other sufferings and the disruption of communication links have poured salt on their wounds.

They appealed the Government and the PTA to take up the matter with the cellular companies on priority basis and if they fail to restore the system, they must be penalized heavily.