No access to 100, 101: Airtel blames BSNL

CHANDIGARH: Dialling 100 for police assistance or 101 for the fire station continues to pose problems for Airtel subscribers. The connectivity problem has existed for users ever since the cellular operator launched its services in the Punjab circle in February this year.Company officials had earlier said that subscribers weren't able to get connected to 100/101 due to a routing glitch which would be remedied.But, now they say the issue cannot be straightened out in short order since Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is not permitting the mobile operator to put calls originating from its network through to its toll-free numbers such as 100 and 101.An Airtel user says, "I have tried calling up the number 100 several times out of sheer curiosity, but it never gets connected. Ditto for 101. Fortunately, I have never had to dial these numbers in an urgent situation. God only knows what would happen then." The majority of subscribers may not have faced an emergency, but what cannot be ignored is that the cell phone can let users down badly in a crisis situation. However, Airtel officials claim they are not in a position to put the link problem right as BSNL has specified in the inter-connect agreement with Airtel that link to toll-free numbers would not be authorised. Airtel chief marketing officer Gurinder Sandhu says, "We have even offered to pay up call charges to BSNL on the toll-free numbers. But the nigam is insistent that the inter-connect agreement doesn't visualise this ."