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People are no longer able to keep TV and internet copper cables on utility poles, according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
The PTA says that accidents are happening because internet and TV cables are breaking and hanging from electrical poles or lying on the ground. This is because the operators are putting their wires on the distribution firms’ infrastructure.
PTA has also begun a countrywide survey to make sure that no licensee is using electric poles to deliver their services over copper wires. The governing body has updated its rules and did ask all Static Local Loop (FLL) and Long Distance International (LDI) providers to lay underground. The International Telecommunication Union has made rules for how to connect to the internet through the air.
PTA said that its licensees mostly use Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) to provide internet services to the whole country. Optical fiber cable (OFC) sends data using a light-based optical system. The fiber does make from a dielectric material that does not conduct electricity. A case study of human electrocutions in Karachi shows that most of the wires in the area belong to cable television companies.
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The PTA says that copper wires do install on utility poles with the help of electric utility companies. K-Electric is one of several large distribution companies that charge Rs.10 per pole to install copper wiring. PTA has also given NEPRA and other distribution companies the International Telecommunication Union’s rules for laying OFC cables.
The copper wires then do take down as soon as possible so that no one gets hurt. Since leaving them there is against the law. The PTA has a rule that operators must keep a certain distance from power lines when installing optical fiber cables on utility poles.