Telecom infrastructure resilient in earthquake aftermath

Telecom infrastructure has proven resilient in the aftermath of the earthquake in Christchurch; however, disruption to landline and mobile services in the area continues, and widespread power outages mean large parts of the network are still working off backup power.

In the aftermath, Telecom has focused efforts on restoring and maintaining cell sites in the CBD, so survivors trapped in the rubble who do have mobile phones can continue to keep in contact with rescue teams. All central city cell sites that are operational have been connected to generators to keep them running.

Telecom continues to intensively monitor network capacity and performance, with a particular focus on 111 services and key emergency response sites.

Mobile performance has improved as people heed calls to limit non-essential mobile use. Many network sites are working on backup power, which is limited as it is reliant on generators and batteries, so prolonged use will mean more sites are likely to go down as backup batteries and generators run down.

Telecom has deployed two cell sites on wheels (COW) to critical areas to boost mobile coverage and are looking to deploy additional COWs from around the country. They are also deploying technicians from around New Zealand to assist in the restoration of telecommunication services in the Canterbury region.