1461 mobile towers out of order due to floods

Due to the devastating floods, some 1,461 (11 per cent) out of 13,240 mobile network towers in ten districts have gone out of order on Friday till 3pm, according to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

More than 90 per cent of mobile towers in Feni were not working, said BTRC Engineering and Operations Director General Brig Gen Kazi Mostafizur Rahman. Feni has seen the worst of the floods, disrupting service from 590 of 656 towers.

The flood-affected districts are Feni, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Cumilla, Brahmanbaria, Chattogram, Khagrachhari, Habiganj, Moulvibazar, and Sylhet.

In Feni, nearly 91.9 per cent towers are now inoperative, while more than 21 per cent towers are down in Noakhali, more than 15 per cent down in Khagrachhari, and nearly 14 per cent down in Cumilla.

The tower areas in all flood-affected regions were submerged, the mobile operators said. The towers do not have the power connections and the necessary technical equipment cannot be sent to them due to the strong current in the floodwaters. Hence, the operators cannot restore the mobile phone network until the current eases, operators said. The BTRC said it was coordinating with concerned authorities to get uninterrupted power supply to keep the mobile towers working. It also ordered the mobile operators to keep the towers working using battery back-ups, diesel generators or portable generators.