To beautify the city, Bangli Regency to lay cables underground along protocol routes

The tangled cabling that crosses overhead is to be relocated underground, particularly along protocol routes, to support the city’s aesthetics. Bangli Regency in Bali (ANTARA) — The Bangli Regency Government in Bali has decided to move the disordered telecommunications and electricity cables that crisscross overhead underground, especially along protocol routes, to support the city’s aesthetics. ‘The tangled cabling is intended to eliminate the impression of spoiling the visual landscape,’ said I Dewa Bagus Riana Putra, Bangli’s Regional Secretary (Sekda), in Bangli on Wednesday. He explained that the relocation of the telecommunications and electricity cables is also an instruction of Bangli Regent Sang Nyoman Sedana Arta. To carry it out, he added, cross-sector coordination is required, including the private sector. Sekda Bangli urged all providers to cooperate through associations such as the Association of Telecommunication Network Operators (Apjatel) and the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII), so that the works are integrated and do not overlap. Meanwhile, the Head of the Bangli Department of Communication, Information and Persandian (Kominfosan) I Nyoman Murditha explained that the local government will designate urban zones and tourism corridors that must be followed by providers and PLN to tidy up. Murdhita also noted that the relocation costs will not be funded from the APBD but will come from private/association funds, i.e., the service providers sharing the underground cable routes. All parties, he said, have agreed to support a phased programme, starting from the city centre, then tourism routes, and extending to the district and village areas. He added that support also comes from internet service providers coordinated by APjatel Bali Regional Coordinator Dody Simanjuntak and APJII Bali Board Chair I Made Kartha Susila, as well as representatives of 13 providers licensed in Bangli.