Tower companies take steps to mitigate impact of cyclone Yaas in WB, Odisha

Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA and its members )said they have taken a range of steps including the readiness of Cell on Wheels (CoWs), arrangement of spare batteries, adequate amount of diesel and DG sets (both fixed and mobile), to mitigate the impact of cyclone Yaas which is likely to landfall on the evening of May 26 in Odisha and West Bengal.

Additionally, TAIPA has also written to the Chief Secretary of Odisha and West Bengal seeking their urgent support and intervention on matters such as unrestricted movement of frontline field staff/technicians for accessing telecom tower sites to carry out operation and maintenance work, availability of diesel for tower sites, availability of uninterrupted electricity on priority for tower sites, and deployment of Cell on Wheels.

“In case of electricity outage for a longer duration of time, our IP members have ensured adequate stock of diesel and DG sets to keep the sites running in Odisha and West Bengal. Apart from this, additional telecom teams have been deployed by the telecom infrastructure providers for restoring the telecom connectivity at the earliest-951 for West Bengal and more than 500 for Odisha,” said T. R. Dua, Director General, TAIPA.

Dua added that more than 800 spare batteries have been arranged for West Bengal, and about 700 for Odisha, to ensure uninterrupted telecom connectivity.

“The movement of telecom personnel will be a big challenge because of the wind speed and heavy rainfall, therefore, we have requested the State officials and DoT for arranging the accommodation of the telecom personnel at the nearby impacted areas,” Dua said.

The tower companies’ representative body and its IP members said they have recently reviewed the situation with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), under the chairmanship of telecom secretary Anshu Prakash, for taking appropriate steps to minimize the impact of the cyclone and to “restore the telecom services at the earliest”.

On the other hand, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have already initiated intra-circle roaming in West Bengal and Odisha and deployed additional cells on wheels, and stocked up diesel and batteries to keep the network up and running during the calamity. Telecom News