Page 295 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2024

Innovation and Digital Transformation for a Sustainable World

ensure network continuity, for this diverse backup power made landfall and caused extensive flooding and erosion.
solutions, including generators, batteries, and fuel cells [6] However, there were no reports of damage of submarine
are crucial. These systems should support critical network cables. The Government Agencies including Telecom
elements such as base stations, switching centers, and data Department and Disaster Management Authorities utilized a
centers for extended periods. However, cyclones also pose robust early warning system called Common Alert Protocol
significant challenges to fuel supply chains, often damaging (CAP) ‘SACHET’ (as per ITU-T Recommendation X.1303)
roads, ports, and storage facilities. This disruption can hinder to disseminate timely updates about the approaching cyclone
the replenishment of fuel for generators, potentially leading to concerned citizens in the region and severity specific
to network failures if backup power is exhausted. manner. Over a period of 1 week during the cyclone, more
than 30 million early warning SMSs were disseminated in
3.3 Rapid damage assessment and restoration the regions of Maharashtra, Gujarat & Dadra Nagar Haveli
capabilities and Daman-Diu regions, ensuring that the public was well-
In the aftermath of a cyclone disaster, the ability to rapidly informed about the impending cyclone and could take
assess the extent of damage to telecommunications necessary precautions [8].
infrastructure and initiate restoration efforts is critical for
minimizing the duration and impact of service disruptions. 4.2 Analysis of the telecom sector's response and
In such disaster affected regions specialized disaster recovery efforts
recovery teams and equipments, are necessary to enable In response to Cyclone Biparjoy, the Government agencies
rapid deployment and restoration of services in affected took proactive measures to mitigate the impact on
areas. telecommunications infrastructure and ensure effective
communication during the disaster. The Central agencies
3.4 Interoperability and coordination with emergency conducted timely preparatory meetings with Telecom
management agencies Service Providers (TSPs), the State Government agencies,
Effective coordination and interoperability between and power companies in advance to assess the preparation
telecommunications providers and disaster management in view of approaching cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ and the steps to
agencies are essential for ensuring a coherent and efficient be taken based on the Standard operating procedure of
response to cyclone disasters. This includes the provisioning Telecom Department [9].
of priority communication channels for emergency services, The TSPs were advised to perform a thorough risk
the sharing of network status information and damage assessment of their network infrastructure, identify
assessments, and the coordination of restoration efforts to vulnerable areas, and develop mitigation plans in
avoid duplication and optimize resource allocation. consonance with the standard operating procedure SOP also
Additionally, cyclone restricts movements of restoration specifies to evaluate the structural integrity of cell towers,
teams, which also require support of first responders. equipment shelters, and other critical infrastructure
components, as well as identify low-lying areas prone to
3.5 Regulatory and policy considerations flooding and develop plans to safeguard against water
Building resilient telecommunications infrastructure also damage. TSPs were also advised to assess the backup power
requires an enabling regulatory and policy environment that supplies to sustain uninterrupted operations for an extended
supports the investment, innovation, and collaboration period.
necessary for enhancing network resilience. Disaster management requires a multi-organization approach,
and in telecom sector this requirement gets multi-fold. As
4. CASE STUDY: CYCLONE BIPARJOY (JUNE telecom infrastructure heavily relies upon power, fuel
2023) availability and movement of restoration team depends on
local administration. To facilitate the restoration of telecom
4.1 Overview of Cyclone Biparjoy and its impact on services, Inter-Agencies coordination channel was
telecommunications infrastructure established, single point of contacts (SPOC) was appointed
Cyclone Biparjoy was a severe cyclonic storm that made in all the agencies to streamline coordination efforts
landfall along the coast of Gujarat, India, on June 15, 2023. Few significant steps taken by the Telecom Department were
With maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h and a central the activation of Intra-circle roaming (ICR) among all TSPs
pressure of 970 hPa, Biparjoy caused widespread damage to before the landfall of the cyclone. ICR was introduced from
infrastructure, including telecommunications networks, June 14, 2023, at 0800 hours and was extended until the
across the affected region [7]. The cyclone's strong winds telecom restoration was completed, facilitating network
and heavy rainfall led to the damage of mobile towers fiber resilience during the disaster. This ensured that subscribers
optic cables, and disruption of power supply to telecom could access telecom services even if their primary service
facilities. Resulting to the outages of around 600-700 provider's network was disrupted [8]. Additionally, to boost
telecom towers which affected millions of people in the the network availability to first responders, 220 numbers
coastal districts of Gujarat, hindering their ability to access were assigned Priority Call Routing, with multi-level
emergency services, receive critical information, and precedence and pre-emption services (eMLPP) having seven
establish connection [8]. The impact on telecommunications priority levels [8, 10]. To create awareness about the ICR
infrastructure was particularly severe in coastal districts, facility and its benefits during the cyclone, the Telecom
such as Kutch, Jamnagar, and Porbandar, where the cyclone Department conducted a large-scale media campaign

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