Network operators speed up to handle signal loss after storm No. 10

For nearly two days now, since storm No. 10 made landfall, many people in Nghe An have reported losing mobile phone signal. “After the storm, I was very worried about my relatives in my hometown, so on the morning of September 29, I called them to ask about them but couldn’t get through. After that, I made dozens of calls to other subscribers who were also experiencing the same situation,” said Ms. Hoang Thu Hang (36 years old, Truong Vinh ward, Nghe An).

It was not until noon on September 30, after hundreds of calls, that Ms. Hang was able to contact her relatives in the old district of Do Luong. “However, the calls were intermittent, I heard some sentences and missed some. But at least I knew my relatives were safe,” Ms. Hang added.

A Viettel broadcasting station was deeply flooded. Photo: HT

Many other people in Vinh City also reported that their phones have lost signal completely since storm No. 10 landed. On the phone, only “emergency call” is displayed. Especially those who use Viettel services. “There is no mobile signal in the area where I live. Every time I need to make a phone call, I have to drive around to search for signal everywhere,” said a resident in Thanh Vinh ward.

Due to the loss of signal, many people had to buy SIM cards from other telecommunications networks to use. Not only in the old Vinh city area, many highland communes also faced the same situation, even losing signal in large areas. "This morning, I had to ride my motorbike more than 10km to another commune to get a mobile phone signal to report on work", said an official of Yen Na commune (formerly Tuong Duong district).

Due to power outages and flooded roads, telecommunications workers had to use boats to bring oil to the broadcasting station. Photo: HT

According to the representative of the Department of Science and Technology, due to the impact of storm No. 10, many telecommunication stations in Nghe An suffered landslides and roof damage, mainly belonging to the two core networks VNPT and Viettel. Viettel alone had power outages at 80% of its stations. This network had 20 backbone cables and 130 branch cables with transmission problems, while VNPT had 17 backbone cables and 23 branch cables with problems.

“Immediately after the storm, about 25% of the area in Nghe An lost signal, but by 3 p.m. on September 30, after many efforts to fix it, only about 15% of the area remained,” said a representative of VNPT Nghe An, adding that right before the storm, the unit had mobilized 100% of its forces with nearly 1,000 officers and employees to be ready to respond. After the storm hit, the group also added 300 more personnel from other provinces to support Nghe An in quickly fixing the problems.

This telecommunications company also said that the group is supporting mobile vehicles and field stations to support coverage in areas with signal loss. It has added more than 400 km of backup fiber optic cables of all kinds and 600 km of subscriber lines to handle customer service. It has transferred 200 backup batteries to network nodes and added backup fuel to ensure station operation for 3-5 days at the stations. It has mobilized an additional 50 MFDs to respond to important network nodes. It has deployed roaming for other network operators in Nghe An.

As for Viettel, in Nghe An province, as of the afternoon of September 30, 40% of the station locations still had information interruptions. A representative of Viettel Nghe An said that during the storm, Viettel's human resources were activated at the highest emergency level, deploying the "4 on-site" method to be ready to respond to incidents, especially prioritizing ensuring connectivity for the Nghe An provincial forward command center and the commune government headquarters, serving the direction of natural disaster response.

Viettel Nghe An representative said that the customer care system has been supplemented with additional staff, receiving incident information and supporting customers 24/7. Photo: HT

Immediately after the storm weakened, Viettel mobilized hundreds of additional personnel from many provinces and cities to support timely troubleshooting and ensure communication for customers. Currently, more than 1,000 personnel, 150 vehicles, 150 generators, 600 suitcase batteries, 3 mobile vehicles, 3 satellite phones and 14 X transmission devices have been mobilized by Viettel Nghe An to respond to storm No. 10. At the same time, Viettel applied AI to monitoring and operating, displaying clearly from commanders to direct personnel to help reduce troubleshooting time.

In addition, Viettel also added 20,000 VND to the accounts of more than 30,000 customers in isolated and cut-off areas to ensure communication. At the same time, the network operator applied a 20% promotion for customers who recharged cards in provinces affected by the storm and postponed one-way blocking for postpaid subscribers to ensure communication. Viettel's customer care system was also supplemented with additional staff to receive incident information and support customers 24/24h.

"If the connection is still interrupted somewhere, we hope for your understanding. Viettel is working hard every hour and every minute to fix the problem as quickly as possible for customers," said a representative of Viettel Nghe An.

Regarding the difficulties in overcoming telecommunications problems, the leader of the Department of Science and Technology said that due to the floodwaters continuing to rise, cutting off National Highway 7 and National Highway 48, it is difficult to access the affected areas for restoration. Trees have fallen, causing broken cables and telecommunications poles, and the amount of work required for restoration is enormous.

“Telecommunication enterprises are deploying 100% of their personnel, including support forces from the provinces, to urgently respond to incidents, supply fuel to telecommunication stations; organize the restoration of fiber optic cables (prioritizing backbone cables). At the same time, urgently deploy satellite systems (Viettel) to isolated areas (old Thanh Chuong and Tuong Duong districts) to ensure communication for command and operation,” said the leader of the Department of Science and Technology, adding that the unit has also requested the Department of Industry and Trade to direct Nghe An Electricity to prioritize power supply to areas with telecommunication stations, especially in densely populated areas. The power stations were proactively closed before the storm, and now there are no incidents, so it is recommended to turn on the power soon. Localities, in the process of trimming trees and clearing the scene, are requested to propagate to people to pay attention to minimizing the cutting of cable lines on the road, causing loss of communication. At the same time, request telecommunication enterprises to coordinate in sharing infrastructure and materials; human resource support to optimize the recovery process.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/cac-nha-mang-tang-toc-xu-ly-su-co-mat-song-sau-bao-so-10-10307407.html