About four telecom sites in Haryana were shutdown and 15-20 are on the verge of closure after miscreants damaged them, following fake messages on social media stating the networks were responsible for the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
The towers were mainly shutdown in Jind and Rohtak districts. The messages stated that operators were testing 5G networks, which were the reasons for Covid-19 pandemic, as 5G is harmful to humans and hence all towers had to be shut down.
The messages – voice and video recordings – are being circulated over Whatsapp, Twitter and Facebook and other social media platforms appealing public to protest against the installation of telecom towers, T.R. Dua, Director-General, Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) said.
“Such incidents, if not brought under control, may significantly impact the telecom connectivity at large and deprive the general public and Government bodies from getting uninterrupted telecom services at this crucial junction of Covid-19 epidemic. Telecom and internet connectivity is essential for enabling Work From Home (WFH), virtual meetings, e-commerce, e-education, e-health and various other initiatives of the Government including the vaccination which requires technology and connectivity support for various purposes,” Dua added.
TAIPA, the apex body of Telecom Infrastructure Providers Category–I (IP-1), has also written to the Chief Secretary of Haryana to address this issue. TAIPA members include Indus Towers, ATC Telecom Infrastructure, Indus Towers, and its associate members are Sterlite Technologies, Space Telelink, Applied Solar Technologies and Coslight India.
Earlier, the Department of Telecommunications had clarified that there was no link between 5G technology and spread of Covid-19 and urged citizens not to be misguided by such false information and rumours. Further, the licensor had clarified that testing of the 5G networks is yet to start in the country.