Ministry of Electricity and Energy is suspended fiber cables installation on its owned concrete posts since 2018, said its Deputy Minister Dr Tun Naing during a parliament session held on May 24.

He replied to a question raised by MP Aye Min Han of No.1 Constituency of Mon State about whether the ministry has planned to mix the fiber and power lines in each concrete post across the country.

The deputy minister said, “The ministry had agreement with Shwe Than Lwin Media Group to install fiber cables on concrete posts owned by the ministry in 2016 but it didn’t start the operation and the company submitted a proposal in 2018 to install fiber cables in 53 towns across the country. However, the ministry suspended the installation of fiber cables in 2018 as the agreement required more technical terms and had weakness in specifying design based on power cable voltages. It also needed more requirements in terms of norms set in neighbouring countries.”

He continued that, if the fiber cables were to be installed in concrete posts, it can overcome the difficulty to find ground area for fiber cables as they are installed overhead. The ministry is taking into account of the danger of electrocution as most of the power cables are open conductors. It can make hindrance to maintain power cables caused by natural disasters and other unexpected incidents as the fiber cables need to remove first to maintain the power cables. It can also portray a bad image on the beauty of the town as fiber cables are tangled and mixed with power cables on the concrete posts while also reducing the durability of the concrete posts.