Düsseldorf (dpa) – Germany’s three mobile operators are making progress in rebuilding their network in flood-stricken areas. A spokesperson for network operator Telefónica (O2) said on Sunday that two-thirds of the 150 affected stations are now back in operation. Deutsche Telekom said more than half of the 130 cellular sites that failed are now back online.
In most cases, the network operator’s antennas malfunction due to a power outage. “Many of the stations that are still down are in places that can’t be reached again,” a Telefónica spokesperson said. Four mobile stations are in use, and ten more are ready.
At Vodafone, one-sixth of mobile phone stations in German flood-stricken areas were still offline on Sunday, a company spokesperson said. In the case of systems in the periphery, the range has been increased in order to enable ‘primary supply’. With such a basic display, performance is somewhat weaker than usual, but at least it allows connection again in some places.
Vodafone also relies on mobile units to bridge the radio gaps. According to the estimate of Düsseldorf, ten percent of customers in disaster areas are still without reception, that is, in a dead zone.
In Telekom there are also dead zones in flood zones. A company spokesperson said there are mobile and cable sites that are not yet accessible for repairs or are not permitted for risk reasons. “The main problems currently remain the lack of power supply and accessibility to the sites.” In general, however, there is one advance.
The floods also had serious consequences for the network of landlines, that is, the Internet through lines to apartments. Many gray boxes – the so-called cable distributors – were destroyed or damaged on the streets. In addition, water and debris tore the fiber-optic and copper cables. A Telekom spokesperson said the switching hubs are currently restarting, and the central hub in Gerolstein was restarted at the weekend. About 10,000 connections and many cell phone locations are connected to this exchange.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210718-99-427262 / 6