TelecomLive April-2020

Covid-19 www.telecomlive.com 29 Telecom LIVE April 2020 working as telecom is an essential service. Telcos have set up virtual war rooms where teams are in touch through video conferencing or conference call facilities. Repre- sentatives from operations, cir- cles, state network operating cen- tres (SNOCs) along with various partners are constantly working to ensure uptime and operational continuity. To facilitate movement during lockdown, DoT can give a blanket letter for the staff of the named companies to be exempted for movement, and the concerned person can show the DoT letter and his identity card to the con- cerned officials, in cases where there are delays in procuring cur- few passes. What kind of challenges telcos facing in running of the tower sites? Connectivity is an essential aspect that enables critical ser- vices to function smoothly even during a lockdown. Telecom industry has set up war rooms and deployed engineers, who are work- ing 24x7 during this period to ensure seamless connectivity at all times. These network management war rooms enable teams to keep in touch with ground staff and staff across locations via con-calls and video conferencing facilities. Rep- resentatives from operations, circles, SNOC, along with various partners, are working to ensure uptime and operational continu- ity. To facilitate movement during the lockdown, the industry is in constant touch with DoT so that necessary guidelines can be issued at regular intervals. On ground, despite home ministry having issued standard operating proce- dure (SoP) to allow people manag- ing essential services to travel, some of our employees are facing difficulties from law enforcement agencies. For example, vehicle with diesel for DG sets of mobile towers and other telecom equip- ment were not allowed to pass through initially creating hurdles but thankfully that has been resolved. We would like to appreciate the support the industry has received from the DoT and state govern- ments in this challenging time. The government is extending every possible support wherever needed. How telcos are managing cus- tomer care functions in this crisis situation? Telcos have activated distrib- uted command centers to monitor and manage networks from differ- ent locations in case any geogra- phy is not accessible for some time. The network partners have also activated BCP (Business Con- tinuity Planning) and are fully geared up to meet any situation. What measures have telcos taken to safeguard their field workforce from the pan- demic? Telcos have organised tempo- rary stay arrangement at data centre locations, made food and groceries available at critical loca- tions and are providing vehicle on duty to facilitate movement of technical staff to sites. The network engineers and other on-ground staff are working in the field with utmost care by following the social distancing protocols. Few of other elements are: ¦ Daily briefings on safety, social distancing to all field and non-field staff ¦ Drive test teams, FRT, Patrol- lers provided with masks, gloves and sanitizers ¦ Daily stock taking of well- being of people ¦ Network team connected 24x7 over phone, mails, WhatsApp, VCs ¦ Vehicles are tagged with “Emergency Telecom Ser- vices” stickers ¦ Each field engineer carries 3 documents – DoT letter, Per- sonal ID and Employee ID ning to increase the 'cells on wheels' (CoWs) to ease the increasing pressure on network areas. CoW sites are pieces of infra- structure on which base stations and antennae can be mounted and wheeled to boost capacity and reduce the congestion. Our mem- ber operators have also obtained approvals from the DoT to ensure critical workers, those operating their network operation centres (NoCs), are allowed to travel. The passes are being issued by the local authorities amid the pandemic-induced coun- trywide lockdowns to resolve network-related glitches at a time when the bulk of corporate staff across India is working from home. COAI, had written to the DoT and to the con- tent streaming plat- forms urging them to use data as minimally and efficiently as possi- ble given the extra surge in demand for internet. We had specifically recommended the firms to reduce the HD streaming to SD during the lockdown period. The Mobile, Fixed Broadband, DTH and Fiber networks are fully geared up to serve cus- tomers in the emerging scenario. In Delhi, COAI had written to MCDs to de- seal the sealed towers till lockdown to ensure smooth connectivity. The network engineers are working 24x7 over the past few weeks to ensure the uninterrupted connectivity to the citizens. Telcos have a comprehensive pandemic response plan with requisite risk mitigation protocols which has been activated while ensuring continuity of mission critical pro- cesses for keeping our networks