Telcos fear service disruption amid Amphan

Mobile operators of the country are fearing service disruption in the coastal belts amid the super cyclone Amphan.

Officials of different mobile phone companies said the network towers in Khulna and Chattogram districts could be affected due to the cyclone which is likely to hit the country by Wednesday afternoon.

They said maintenance of the mobile network towers is already difficult because of the ongoing Covid-19 shutdown.

"As it's one of strongest cyclone in the recent past there are chances that network towers might be affected badly," a senior official of a mobile company told The Business Standard.

He said as the towers are usually located in high places the protection against such situation is low.

"If that happens the service would be disrupted," he said.

Cyclone Amphan is forecasted to be the worst storm over the Bay of Bengal since 1991.

Currently, four mobile phone operators and tower sharing companies have more than 30,000 mobile phone network towers across the country.  

Association of Mobile Telecom Operators Bangladesh (AMTOB) has already called for government assistance during the Amphan situation to continue telecom service in the affected areas.

AMTOB Secretary General S M Farhad said, "With the upcoming 'Super Cyclone' Amphan, mobile network operators are equally vigilant and alert to keep the essential services up and running, and also prepared to manage post-cyclone recovery and service restoration in the coastal areas."

"However, mobile network operators would require greater collaboration between different authorities, especially the power authority with high priority during and post-cyclone service restoration," he said.

"Moreover, we would also need help from the Law Enforcement Agencies for emergency movements during this time," he added.