Telecom companies' claims of providing quality service to its ever growing subscribers came to a nought in the aftermath of serial blasts here yesterday, when networks failed people trying to emotionally connect to their loved ones.
With five serial blasts rocking the capital last evening, people stranded on the streets and simply lost in the chaos found themselves completely let down by their telecom service providers as calls wouldn't get through and SMSes delayed in transition.
Though network operators Reliance Communications and Vodafone claimed that they had capacity to handle the surge in calls, almost all - both cellular as well as WLL lines - were jammed following the bomb explosions. A spokesperson from a leading telecom firm when contacted said, "In this kind of situations when everyone tries to contact others frantically, the congestion in the network is likely to go up."
To limit congestion, network operators urged those using their mobiles to keep calls as short as possible or use SMS to communicate. However, even SMS services were not working. "I tried calling up my friends and family only to find that all networks were busy. I even tried sending SMS which also was not delivered due to some reason," Jhimla N a resident of Central Delhi who was in Karol Bagh during the blast said.
In fact, till almost an hour after the first blast took place at 1810 hrs in Ghaffar Market, all cellular networks were jammed as family and friends tried to contact their dear ones on the phone.
