AGARTALA: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been actively working to restore phone and internet services in the areas affected by floods in Tripura.
According to the Ministry of Communication, networks such as BSNL, Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone have managed to restore more than 94 percent of the telecom networks in flood-affected areas despite all odds.
The restoration of phone and internet services is essential for maintaining critical communication channels for rescue teams, government officials, and the general public.
The state witnessed unprecedented heavy downpours from August 19 to August 23, leading to intense flooding.
The deluge severely damaged the telecom infrastructure, resulting in widespread service disruptions.
To improve telecom connectivity, significant measures were taken by the DoT and telecommunications service providers (TSPs) across the state.
The DoT has been monitoring the situation closely in coordination with its field unit, North East License Service Area (NE-LSA), and the telecom providers.
The DoT LSA unit in Tripura worked in coordination with the State Administration, State Disaster Management unit, and the telecom providers to restore the network within a short period.
Based on filed reports, the DoT enforced Intra Circle Roaming (ICR) in the flood-hit state from August 22 to August 27.
Subsequently, all TSPs implemented ICR, allowing customers to access any available TSP network regardless of their subscription.
Airtel on August 24 took a slew of measures for its prepaid and postpaid customers in a bid to support them.
Prepaid customers whose validity has expired and are unable to recharge were given 1.5 GB free mobile data per day and unlimited calling with 4 days validity.
In addition to that, bill payment dates for all postpaid customers were extended by 30 days to ensure customers have uninterrupted access to mobile service.
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To ensure uninterrupted connectivity during the crisis, Airtel also introduced ICR in the state.
Besides Airtel, Jio also extended the validity of prepaid plans for all customers in Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Mizoram by 4 days and enabled Intra-Circle Roaming in Tripura.
