Emergency call services, telcos urge EU to protect telecoms networks from power cuts - Reuters

MILAN/STOCKHOLM/PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Europe's apical telecoms operators and an exigency services lobby connected Monday urged Brussels to shield mobile and fixed grids from powerfulness cuts, a missive reviewed by Reuters showed, arsenic worries turn astir a nonaccomplishment of telecom networks during wide blackouts.

Europe is facing imaginable vigor rationing and powerfulness outages successful the aftermath of the warfare successful Ukraine, putting immoderate cardinal services specified arsenic exigency calls and infrastructure similar telecoms networks to the trial this winter.

Some of Europe's apical telecoms executives, including the brag of Orange, person precocious voiced their concerns connected the matter.

The associated missive sent connected Monday is the archetypal ceremonial measurement by the European Telecommunications Network Operators (ETNO) and the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) to unit the European Union enforcement assemblage to measurement in.

ETNO represents erstwhile telephone monopolies specified arsenic Germany's Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Spain's Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI), portion EENA speaks for much than 1,500 exigency services representatives implicit 80 countries.

"Should telecommunications networks beryllium taxable to planned outages, citizens would hazard not having entree to communications services for the duration of the outage, including exigency communications," the missive signed by the heads of EENA and ETNO said.

If determination is immoderate rationing implicit the winter, definite services specified arsenic hospitals, constabulary services and nutrient accumulation facilities would beryllium prioritised nether existent plans to guarantee the slightest imaginable interaction if blackouts occurred.

Most nationalist information answering points (PSAPs) - telephone centres connecting exigency calls - are already designated arsenic captious infrastructure, the missive said, meaning that each tenable measurement would beryllium taken to guarantee that they are not affected by powerfulness outages.

But exigency services and telecoms operators are disquieted that telecoms infrastructure, which relies connected transportation to the energy grid to operate, is not marked arsenic captious successful immoderate countries.

"We are acrophobic that telecommunications networks whitethorn not person been placed connected precedence assemblage lists," it said, calling connected the EU Commission to enactment with subordinate states to guarantee vigor proviso is maintained to the grids if powerfulness rationing occurs to assistance citizens entree to exigency services.

EENA besides laid retired these concerns successful a statement connected its website aft Reuters reported successful September telecoms manufacture officials feared the grid would not header with powerfulness rationing.

The missive was sent to Ditte Juul Jorgensen, manager wide of the EU Commission's vigor department, and her counterpart astatine the communications networks department, Roberto Viola.

The Commission did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

COSTLY AND FRAGILE

In Monday's letter, EENA and ETNO besides stressed that immoderate back-up solutions were costly and fragile.

"In our experience, batteries and diesel generators placed successful mobile basal stations are an casual people for vandalism and theft, and attraction costs are high," the missive said.

"Extending the existent constricted ain back-up vigor proviso of telecommunication networks is not an option, arsenic it would beryllium not lone highly expensive, but besides arsenic specified an hold would instrumentality years," it said.

France, Sweden and Germany are trying to guarantee communications tin proceed adjacent if powerfulness cuts extremity up exhausting back-up batteries installed connected the thousands of cellular antennas dispersed crossed their territories.

But presently determination are not capable back-up systems successful galore European countries to grip wide powerfulness cuts, telecoms manufacture sources person said.

Europe has astir fractional a cardinal telecom towers, and astir of them person artillery backups to tally the mobile antennas that past astir 30 minutes.

Reporting by Elvira Pollina successful Milan, Supantha Mukherjee successful Stockholm and Mathieu Rosemain successful Paris; Editing by Josephine Mason and Jan Harvey

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