KARACHI: All Pakistan Cable Operators Association (APCOA) and the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) have suspended TV and internet services in five cities of Sindh on Tuesday as a protest against K-Electric (KE) for deliberately cutting the cables of various fibre broadband providers.
The chairperson of All Pakistan Cable Operators Association (APCOA) and the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) Khalid Arain said the services were halted in five cities of the province owing to “stubbornness” of the power distribution company.
Arain said that that instead of suspending services for two hours, as was done on Monday, cable and internet operators will suspend services for three hours from 7 pm to 10 pm in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah and Larkana.
He stated that a meeting had taken place earlier today with Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Ali Shallwani in order to resolve the issues between the two parties.
“However, no KE representative attended the meeting,” he claimed, adding that the commissioner directed the relevant authorities to facilitate cable operators in moving their wires underground.
On Monday night, KE had responded to cable and internet operators’ “token strike” against the power utility’s “high-handedness”, saying that they had failed to shift their “illegal and unsafe wires to a safe underground system”, despite making commitments.
In response to PTAPA’s (cable operators) statement, K-Electric has strongly reasserted its determination to continue its drive against illegal encroachment of its infrastructure by TV and internet cables which are a major safety hazard.
— KE (@KElectricPk) July 13, 2020
In a series of tweets, KE “strongly reasserted its determination to continue its drive against [the] illegal encroachment of its infrastructure by TV and internet cables,” calling them a “major safety hazard”.
The power utility claimed that the Pakistan Telecommunication Access Provider Association (PTAPA) had assured local authorities that they will shift their “illegal and unsafe wires” underground. “The first phase of this project on 50 locations was supposed to be completed by July 20, 2020.”
In various conversations with the local authorities including Commissioner Karachi and with KE, PTAPA assured they will shift their illegal and unsafe wires to safe underground system. The first phase of this project on 50 locations was supposed to complete by July 20, 2020.
— KE (@KElectricPk) July 13, 2020
