Optical fibre cables to go underground in Chennai

CHENNAI: To prevent the dangling cables with the street lights, the Greater Chennai Corporation has instructed telecom firms providing Internet services using optical fibre cables to shift the overhead cables to underground.

A Chennai Corporation official said that under the Singara Chennai 2.0 initiative, the civic body has decided to shift overhead optical fibre cables (OFC) underground. "While we have prepared a plan to shift the existing cables underground in a phased manner, new cables should only be laid underground, " the official added.

The city has 15 telecom firms providing Internet services using OFC and they carry the cables through street lamp posts.

The official said that steps will be taken to shift the cables on bus route roads underground immediately and cables on interior roads will be shifted underground in a phased manner. "We have a target to shift 20 per cent of the cables per year and all the cables will be shifted in five years," the official explained.

Responding to a question from Kodambakkam zonal committee chairman M Krishnamurthy (ward 142), who asked whether any measures would be taken to shift overhead cables to underground, at the Council meeting, Mayor R Priya said that letters have been sent to telecom firms instructing them to shift the cables underground.