Signal robbery

Letter March 17, 2021
I urge the concerned authorities to take immediate action and put an end to this menace

KARACHI:

I am a full-time teacher at a reputable private school in Lahore. Since the advent of the pandemic, I have been conducting my classes virtually. The internet WiFi system at my house isn’t stable enough to support video calls and after several failed attempts, I shifted to using my cellular data. This gave me a fast and reliable connection and I finally able to conduct my classes smoothly without any issues.

Last month, however, my phone signals started to suddenly drop. I was completely distraught by this as online teaching was turning out to be extremely difficult. To add more salt to my wounds, the signals kept disconnecting or lagging, which made it impossible to teach. As a last resort, my brother and I complained to our cellular service provider, and they said they couldn’t find any fault in their system. Dejected, we asked our next door neighbours if they were having the same issue. It turned out that they were experiencing the same issue and even knew who the culprit was. Someone in our neighborhood had installed signal boosters to amplify and catch other signals.

This is just like a “Kunda” plaguing the power sector. The government has already declared that these signal boosters are illegal and punishable by law; then why are people still getting away with it? I have worked very hard to build my career, and due to these signal robbers, my job is now at stake. I urge the concerned authorities to take immediate action and put an end to this menace.

Zain Ghazi

Lahore

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18th, 2021.

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