Pervez Cooper, a South Mumbai businessman, is forced to step out of his office every time he needs to make a phone call; his office landline has been dead for two years. In his office, deep inside Karanjia building, Grant Road East, Cooper shows the instrument to this reporter, saying, "I have been complaining to the Byculla Telephone Exchange. The phone will restart for two-three days and go dead again."

The Colaba resident said, "I have been paying the landline rent for years, though it has been dead. I cannot give it up, because I do not get a mobile phone signal inside my office. I tell people to call me at home before I leave. My family has often been unable to get through."