After receiving reports of complete network failure since the last three days, a survey conducted by IFP found that the main tower of the network that is feeding at least 50 signal towers in and around Imphal was shut down since Friday.
According to reliable sources, the main tower of Vodafone erected at the Gambhir Singh shopping arcade in Imphal was shut down by the officials of the network citing unspecified external pressures resulting in complete shutdown of the network in the state.
Three distributors are operating the network, including the Shija Communication at Lamphel, Manipur Mobile Centre (MMC) and Surchand at Palace Compound. On approaching these distributors, officials were reluctant to give the reason behind the network failure.
Unconfirmed sources said that the network failure was due to some external pressure which has not been clearly specified. The network has been operating in the state since December 2008 and there have been no reports of network failure earlier.
It is worth mentioning that similar network interruption had been reported by some other mobile networks in the state. However, the problem faced by these networks was due to monetary demands or due to destruction of equipment at the towers by some miscreants.