Almost half of the BTS in Bangladesh inactive! Thousands of PoPs closed
According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission-BTRC, 8 thousand 410 sites of mobile operators in 45 districts of the country have been cut off due to the impact of Cyclone Remal. BTRC has already written to PDB, DPDC and BREB to restore power connection to these sites on an urgent basis.
According to a report received from BTRC on Monday afternoon, 32 percent of the mobile towers in the affected areas were down till 10 pm on Sunday, but by Monday morning, this rate had increased to 28 percent. However, by 4 pm this number had deteriorated to 48.71 percent. Accordingly, out of 45 thousand 610 BTS in 64 districts, 22 thousand 212 have been added to the inactive list.
However, AMTOB, the mobile operators' association, says mobile networks in nine coastal districts have been significantly damaged due to strong Cyclone Remal. About 15,000 mobile sites are currently down in these areas due to power outages. Mobile operators are working closely with the Electricity Authority, Department of Posts and Telecommunications and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to restore the network quickly. On the other hand, ISPAB, the association of Internet service providers, said that due to longer-than-normal tides and storm surges, it is not possible to restore the connection until the situation normalizes.
225 out of 320 PoPs (Points of Presence) of ISP operators in coastal areas have become non-functional. Among these, Bhola district is the most affected with 85 percent population. About 300,000 customers in that region have been deprived of services. They are using portable generators to keep the service running.
According to NTTN operators' calculations, 1908 PoPs in 15 districts have been shut down due to lack of electricity. However, 6 locations of Fiber@Home in Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong are closed due to battery backup of 1690 PoPs. However, no PoP of Bahon limited has stopped.
According to sources, Barguna has the most inactive BTS of mobile operators due to Remal's rampage. Out of the 326 existing sites there, 266 have been closed. Also, 78 percent of Bagerhat and Pirojpur, 77 percent of Bhola, Satkhira and Jhalkathi, 76 percent of Patuakhali, 71 percent of Barisal, 66 percent of Gopalganj, 64 percent of Narail, 56 percent of Jessore, 50 percent of Khulna, 28 percent of the existing 29,687 sites in the affected 45 districts have become are inactive.
