Govt directs telcos to enable intra-circle roaming in rain-hit Himachal Pradesh

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

telecom operators to enable intra-circle roaming in the Himachal Pradesh as the region continues to face heavy rains which may cause disruption in connectivity, industry executives said. While there has been no major damage to telecom infrastructure like towers or radios so far, multiple areas in the affected region are facing power outages, which is affecting the running of telecom towers as well, they added.

“There has been some damage to the fibre laid along the national highway in that region, but the network engineers are working to reroute that traffic,” another executive said. So far, there has been no major outage in connectivity due to the heavy rains in the areas like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, though pockets have been affected on account of the damage to fibre in the area.

However, a more pressing concern, telecom executives said is the power outages, if prolonged, may hamper tower operations. “Diesel backups are in place at these sites.

But if the diesel supply runs out, it will be very tough to send new supply to the affected areas since connectivity by road and air is limited, and in some cases, non-existent right now,” said an executive with a telco. The government in the meantime has instructed all four operators – state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), and the three private operators – Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea to enable intra-circle roaming.

Intra-circle roaming allows telecom users to avail other networks’ services even while in their home region, in case their primary network faces an outage. This has been done to ensure that those in the affected areas are able to remain connected via cellular network.