Europe is preparing for blackouts due to gas crisis, - Reuters
The suspension of gas supplies from Russia endangers the work of telecommunications operators in Europe and forces them to look for backup ways to avoid disconnections.
Reuters writes about this with reference to sources, Censor.NET reports with reference to Economic Truth.
Telecoms industry officials fear that the severe winter will test Europe's telecoms infrastructure, forcing companies and governments to look for ways to mitigate the negative effects.
Many European countries do not have enough back-up systems to cope with massive power outages, increasing the likelihood of mobile service disruptions, according to four telecom executives.
European countries, accustomed to uninterrupted power supply, mostly do not have backup power generators for long periods of time. There are almost half a million telecommunications towers in Europe, most of which have backup batteries that last 30 minutes for mobile antennas.
Solutions are being sought in various countries of the region. In France, for example, the electricity supplier Enedis (part of EDF) proposes to resort to blackouts of up to two hours in the worst-case scenario. Outages will only affect certain parts of the country on a rolling basis and will not affect hospitals, police, government, etc.
Telecommunications companies in Sweden and Germany have also expressed concern about power shortages. The Swedish telecom regulator PTS is working with operators and other government agencies to discuss scenarios in the event of power rationing, as well as to purchase mobile refueling stations and mobile base stations.
Italy's telecoms lobby wants the mobile network to be excluded from blackouts or energy-saving requirements and will raise the issue with Italy's new government.
The operators are also working with telecommunications equipment manufacturers Nokia and Ericsson to modernize equipment and reduce the use of excess energy.
