Commuters travelling on Mumbai’s Metro-3 corridor experienced a sharp decline in mobile connectivity on Friday after the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) scrapped its agreement with a third-party firm responsible for telecom infrastructure across the underground stretch. The move has left passengers in several sections without even the limited network access that was previously available.
According to MMRCL, the contract was terminated after the vendor failed to meet its obligations. The agency plans to issue a fresh tender to onboard a new service provider. “The contractor was not able to fulfil contractual obligations,” said an MMRCL spokesperson. She added that efforts are underway to restore seamless connectivity at the earliest, though no clear timeline has been provided.
Before the disruption, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel had network presence along the entire 35.5-km corridor, while Vodafone Idea and BSNL offered partial coverage between Aarey JVLR in Goregaon and Acharya Atre Chowk in Worli. The shared telecom system had been installed by Saudi Arabia-based ACES India.
The contract cancellation comes amid a broader dispute between MMRCL and telecom operators. The Cellular Operators Association of India, representing Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, had objected to MMRCL’s vendor-led model for deploying telecom infrastructure. Operators argued that permitting a third-party infrastructure provider to install active equipment was in violation of the Telecommunications Act, 2023. They had предложed building a common in-building solution network at their own cost, but MMRCL declined and moved ahead with its tender process, denying ‘right of way’ permissions.
Passengers say the outage has disrupted communication, digital payments, and app-based ticketing. However, authorities stressed that safety systems remain fully functional. “Passenger safety is not compromised despite the lack of public mobile network access,” the spokesperson said.
Experts note that reliable mobile connectivity is now essential for urban commuters, especially on long underground routes, making the disruption a significant inconvenience.
Source: The Times of India
