Nagaland: 8 of 17 district HQs still lack optical fibre, says MP

Nagaland's Lok Sabha MP S Supongmeren Jamir has asked the Centre to set a firm deadline for closing the state's gaps in optical fibre connectivity and finishing pending 4G towers, after a ministerial reply showed that nearly half of the state's district headquarters are still not linked by fibre.

What the Centre's reply says

Jamir had written on 4 August to Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, about poor BSNL services in Nagaland. In his reply dated 14 October, Scindia said 8 of Nagaland's 17 district headquarters and 59 of its 75 block headquarters do not yet have optical fibre cable (OFC) connectivity, Eastern Mirror reported. Only 9 district headquarters and 16 block headquarters have been connected so far.

Under the Centre's 4G Saturation Project, BSNL is putting up 346 4G towers to cover 458 villages in Nagaland. The reply said 287 of those towers have been commissioned, bringing 4G to 387 villages. That leaves 59 towers and about 71 villages still waiting.

The minister's letter also put BSNL's technical staff in Nagaland at 187.

The MP's demand

In a statement on Saturday, Jamir said announcing projects and sharing progress figures was not enough, and that people in Nagaland deserved real, reliable and uninterrupted connectivity. He asked for a definite timeframe to complete the work.

He said telecom access was no longer a luxury but an essential public service, especially in a hilly and largely rural state, because education, healthcare, jobs, banking, governance and emergency communication all depend on it. He urged the ministry and BSNL to work closely with the state government, strengthen existing networks and make sure remote villages are not left out.

Why it matters

Optical fibre at district and block headquarters is the backbone for government offices, banks, hospitals and schools, as well as for mobile towers that serve nearby villages. Gaps in that backbone mean slower internet and frequent outages even where a mobile signal exists.

The ministry has not given a public completion date for the remaining fibre links or towers in Nagaland. Jamir, a Congress MP, has also taken up other Centre-state issues this year, including land for expanding Dimapur airport.

NEInsider will report any timeline the ministry or BSNL announces.