Cyclone Fani: Here's how telecom operators are helping subscribers

As telecom services have severely affected by Cyclone Fani in Odisha, a network service provider like Airtel is providing free SMS in three affected states for 5 days.

The telco said that it has created war rooms with dedicated teams have been established in the state/circle offices to monitor the impact of operations and coordinate quick recovery.

These war rooms are also coordinating with Government Authorities such as NDMA. "Additional resources planned for affected clusters including manpower for network operations, equipment, fuel, and vehicles," the telco said.

Likewise, Vodafone is offering free SMS and Rs. 10 loan if anyone exhaust balance during an emergency.

"We have ensured sufficient fuel supply to our sites across all locations, and stocking at strategic locations, for use in times of emergency. Additionally, mobile DGs, critical equipment spares and vehicles have been arranged and kept ready at key locations," Vodafone spokesperson said.

Vodafone Idea has also set up a helpline number at 1938 for people to reach out in case of an emergency.

Meanwhile, Mukesh Ambani- owned Reliance Jio has been communicating regular cyclone alerts and updates to nearly 2.5 Lakh fisherfolk/ farmers in the cyclone path districts of Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, and Odisha since April 27, 2019. The broadcast dissemination modes include Mobile based audio advisories (outbound calls), WhatsApp, JioChat Channel, local cable TV scroll and print media.

Jio said that" It is working to mitigate potential downtime due to power outages of its network infrastructure. Through its multiway redundancy methodology planned for catastrophes such as Fani, impacted towers or network nodes have been optimized to remain online making seamless communication possible. All captive power sources have been adequately stocked with diesel or fuel for any unforeseen eventuality.

In fact, Reliance Communication is addressing 2,000 queries through RF Toll-Free Help Line.