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Cyclone Remal has significantly disrupted telecommunication services in the country, with extensive power outages affecting cell tower operations.
As of 8:00 pm on Monday, telecom industry sources reported that half of the country’s over 45,000 cell towers faced power outages due to the preemptive electricity shutdowns by providers to prevent accidents during the cyclone.
Specifically, around 22,218 telecommunication towers in 64 districts were knocked out of service because of these power outages, said BTRC.
The power department implemented shutdowns across various southern coastal areas and partially in other regions for nearly 15 hours for safety reasons.
However, mobile operators keep running the rest of the towers with generators and batteries.
Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) at around 6:00 PM said, due to disruptions in the electricity supply, approximately 15,000 sites are currently down in these areas. MNOs are closely working with the Power Authorities, Posts and Telecommunications Division and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to restore the network as quickly as possible.
"We are using generators and batteries to maintain network services, but with a maximum capacity of 8-10 hours, interruptions are happening. We are working closely with the Power Authorities, Posts and Telecommunications Division, and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to restore the network as quickly as possible, said Taimur Rahman, Chief Corporate and Regulatory Affairs of Banglalink.
“Additionally, we want to ensure that our teams working tirelessly to restore connectivity are protected and safe. To ensure our customers' safety, we have also introduced a cyclone tracker on the MyBL app," he said.
According to telecom officials, backup battery power for the towers typically lasts 6-8 hours, and this has been depleted in most tower stations in cyclone-hit areas. Portable diesel and petrol generators are being used to keep some of the towers operational. However, in the worst-hit districts, generators might remain the sole power source for cell towers until grid electricity is fully restored.
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