There are a total of 3,617 sites (towers) of different mobile phone operators in the five flood-hit districts. Many of its sites were shut down due to power outages.
However, due to the efforts and tireless work of the mobile operators, a total of 1146 sites have been reactivated till Sunday (June 19) evening. The highest number of 518 sites reactivated are in Sylhet. There were 1339 sites that became unusable. Besides, 87 out of 629 sites in Sunamganj, 276 out of 560 in Netrokona, 113 out of 575 in Habiganj and 152 out of 514 in Moulvibazar have been made operational.
In contrast, 976 sites have been cut off from power and are out of network. Of these, 477 sites are in Sunamganj, 386 in Sylhet, 51 in Netrokona, 24 in Habiganj and 514 in Moulvibazar are still inactive.
However, the BTRC said that efforts are being made to activate those sites as well.
According to sources, the network of BTCL in Sylhet district was down on June 18 due to the ongoing floods. The network was activated on Sunday (June 19). But there is still a problem with interconnection and BTCL is working to solve it. BTCL’s network is down in Sunamganj too.
As the Sylhet-Sunamganj road was submerged in flood waters, portable generators could not be taken to Sunamganj. However, the flood waters from that road have started to recede a little and if the flood waters recede, it is expected that BTCL’s network in Sunamganj can be activated with portable generators.
Everyone involved in BTCL is active and the network is working. It has been reported that there are a total of 2,528 sites (towers) of four mobile operators in three districts of Sylhet division. By Sunday (June 19) evening, 660 of these sites had been reactivated. However, all the operators together up to that time, a total of 1,072 sites were out of network.
According to the media relations department of BTRC, the network operations center, point of presence (PoP) installations of ISP operators have been flooded and disconnected due to the ongoing flood situation in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona and other areas of Sylhet division. Portable generators (PG) are being used to provide services to all the PoPs that are being accessed. Additional generators have been provided to ensure power supply to some of the PoPs in the districts. ISP operators in Sunamganj and other affected areas are sending their team to make every effort to keep the network active.
Besides, 15 IIG operators in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona and other areas of Sylhet division have a total of 48 Points of Presence (PoP), most of which are operational. However, many sites in the flood-hit areas were cut off due to power outages, temporarily hampering access to the internet. Portable generators (PG) are being used to provide services to all the PoPs that are being accessed. A temporary wall has been constructed at the PoP of several IIGs in Sylhet district for operation through diesel generators (DG). Additional diesel powered generators and portable generators have been hired to ensure power supply to some of the PoPs in the district.
Among NTTN operators, Summit Communications Ltd has a total of 262 Points of Presence (PoP), of which 137 are active and 125 are inactive. All of the 29 points of interconnection (POI) of Bahan Ltd. are active and all the points of interconnection (POI) of Fiber at Home Ltd. are active except the POIT of Chhatak (Sunamganj). Many sites in the flood-hit areas were cut off due to power outages, temporarily hampering access to NTTN connections in those areas. At present all NTTN connections are uninterrupted.