The Nepal Electricity Authority has given a 45-day deadline to the service providers to manage the cable television, Internet, telephone wires and equipment that are stretched on the electric poles in its ownership.

The Authority, through a public notice on Tuesday, has set the standards for the structure to be placed on electric poles for telecommunication, cable TV and Internet services and has asked the service providers to manage them accordingly.

The city has been made ugly due to the haphazardly stretched wires using electrical poles and unnecessary optical fibers and equipment hanging randomly from cable poles that are not in use.

Electrical accidents, including fire, are increasing and due to this the electrical services provided by the Authority have also been disrupted, said the NEA.

Manoj Silwal, Deputy Managing Director of Distribution and Customer Service Directorate NEA, said that in order to reduce electrical accidents, including fire and provide reliable electricity service and maintain urban beauty, telecommunication, cable TV and Internet service providers have been publicly requested to build/manage their structures within the deadline.

“According to the Nepal Electricity Authority Act, 2041 BS, the cable and other equipment of the service providers who do not manage them in the specified time shall be removed by the Authority itself and the related service provider shall be responsible for any damage or loss caused by this,” he said.

In order to maintain urban beauty and minimise electrical accidents, standards have been prepared and managed for the wires and equipment of various service providers to be placed in our structures, he said.

The Authority has specified the minimum distance between the optical fiber/cable and the power line and the ground surface.

The minimum distance between open and insulated wires and cables of 400 volts should be 80 and 30 cm respectively. The minimum distance between 11 kV and 33 kV lines and cables should be 2 metres. The minimum distance from other 400 volt devices should be 75 cm, said the NEA.

Between the optical fiber cable and the ground surface, 2.4 metres on footpaths and 5.5 metres on roads are specified.

It is prohibited to connect customers by means of service cable without maintaining the minimum distance.

Devices such as routers, optical fiber distribution boxes should be connected to the same part of the pole to make sure it does not fall, shake and be properly wired using clips.

Wires and other devices that are not in use should be removed immediately.

According to the standard, service providers should put cable tags on each pole so that they can easily separate their wires. Marking should also be done on the equipment connected to the pole.