Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has incurred an estimated loss of ₹30 crore in the recent floods in Pathanamthitta telecom district, according to official sources here.
BSNL general manager Saju George said the company could, however, expand its customer base by 23% during and after the flood.
Mr. George said the BSNL could repair and restore most of its flooded base transmission stations (BTS) or mobile towers in the district in a record time with round-the-clock hard work by its field staff.
Tower repairs
The remaining towers would be made functional as soon as the Kerala State Electricity Board restored power supply in those areas, he said.
Mr. George said the BSNL had also made arrangements to provide new mobile connection and free recharging facility at various flood-relief camps in the district.
Mr. George said that telecommunication cables had to be cut in various flood-hit areas to facilitate smooth movement of rescue boats and that had affected the communication network in the district.
This could be rectified once the cable repair work was completed.
He said the BSNL had restored the optical cable network on the Nilackal-Pampa stretch of the Sabarimala Road that had been damaged in a landslip.
However, the company had been trying its level best to restore the communication network at Sabarimala that had been disrupted following the flood and landslips, Mr. George said.
