Amid the devastating second Wave of COVID-19, Cyclone Tauktae hit the western ghats of India. It has been reported that the cyclone has caused three deaths in Gujarat and six people were killed in Mumbai as the storm crossed the city on Monday. The devastating storm has also destroyed telecom infrastructures in several parts of the affected regions. In the latest statement S P Kochhar, DG, COAI announced that the team is working closely with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Infrastructure Providers (IPs) and local state authorities to minimize the impact of Cyclone Tauktae on India’s telecommunications network.
COAI and DoT Restoring Mobile Network
According to the announcement, the departments are taking every possible and necessary step to mitigate Cyclone Tauktae’s impact on the people in affected states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Diu. It seems the COAI and DoT is working hard to resume all the services in the areas where the network connection is disrupted due to the cyclone. Further, the announcement also claims that the internet service is also getting revamped and will be live soon. Moreover, COAI has also initiated intra circle roaming which will allow smartphone users to easily switch between TSPs, in case their native TSP is not in a working condition. The government is making use of priority Call Routing to coordinate and execute restoration work. It seems that all TSPS and their OEM partners have increased the workforce on the ground to protect and restore the telecom infrastructure to ensure connectivity at this vital moment. Further, Kochhar added that TSPs has developed additional Cell of Wheels (CoW) to cater for the disruption in the mobile tower and to support impacted telecom sites. There is also an arrangement for diesel and battery backup in case the grid supply is not working. Kochhar didn’t reveal anything specific when the reinstallation work is going to be finished for all the regions. Looking at the regions we can expect that it might take some time but Kochhar ensures that the resolution of telecom infrastructure is on priority and will be resolved soon.
