A worker restoring telecommunications infrastructure after a typhoon in Bác Ái Tây Commune in Khánh Hòa Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thành

HÀ NỘI — Effective coordination between management agencies, telecommunications enterprises and local authorities contributed to improving the overall effectiveness of typhoon response efforts, while the disaster situation remained complex and unpredictable.

In particular, typhoons Kalmaegi and Fung-Wong had serious adverse impacts on Việt Nam's central region. Following the typhoons, residents saw periods of heavy rain and floods damaging telecommunications and other types of infrastructure, leading to no signal, lost signal and weak signal situations.

According to the Telecommunications Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST), 906 out of 6,307 Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) across Gia Lai and Đắk Lắk provinces lost connection during Typhoon Kalmaegi.

During Typhoon Fung-Wong, 1,202 out of 8,742 stations in Gia Lai, Đắk Lắk and Khánh Hòa provinces were affected by outages.

Deputy Director of the Telecommunications Department Nguyễn Anh Cương said that the MST and the department advised telecom companies on issuing procedures and criteria related to disaster prevention, search and rescue and cooperation mechanisms.

After Typhoon Yagi at the end of last year, the former Ministry of Information and Communications (now the MST) issued criteria defining requirements for telecom infrastructure to ensure preparedness for natural disasters.

These regulations were further detailed in Circular 14 issued this year, clearly stipulating rights, responsibilities and coordination mechanisms between telecom companies and authorities.

"The MST continues to develop scenarios and management regulations to minimise the impact of natural disasters on communication systems," Cương said.

Telecom companies have built cooperative measures and stand ready to support each other by adjusting nearby stations to cover areas that have lost connection and deploying mobile signal vehicles as temporary replacements.

Essential communication was thus essentially guaranteed for 100 per cent of village and hamlet leaders to complete command and control work.

After gaining access to affected sites, telecom companies deployed hundreds of staff, technicians, vehicles and equipment for immediate response and restoration of communications.

Even when the power grid was not restored, communication was maintained using backup generators.

Thanks to these efforts, telecom networks in most affected areas were restored within one to three days.

Early warning messages sent to subscribers in affected regions helped increase public awareness and response capacity.

In areas with power outages, telecom companies opened offices and stations equipped with generators for the public to charge their phones.

They deployed mobile BTS vehicles, temporary charging points and generators to densely populated areas and evacuation points to enable people to connect with relatives and access information.

Telecom companies also implemented policies to maintain and extend telecom package validity and accounts for subscribers in heavily affected areas, helping residents maintain communication.

Rescue maps

During the recent rains and floods, some independent programmers voluntarily developed rescue maps, but these efforts were limited by manpower, resources and data availability.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bùi Hoàng Phương acknowledged the creativity and initiative of the community.

These practical initiatives leveraged digital technology and open data to support disaster response activities by functional agencies.

According to the deputy minister, this area falls under the specialised management system of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE). The Telecommunications Department therefore should direct telecom companies to coordinate on further developing these maps as necessary.

This is essential to prevent misleading maps that could negatively affect rescue and command efforts, especially when people rely on the information to respond independently.

Phương requested the Telecommunications Department and telecom companies to explore data connectivity, sharing or verification capabilities with the MAE and related agencies to improve disaster response effectiveness, ensure uninterrupted communication and protect public safety.

Entities, organisations and individuals involved in implementing rescue information maps can contact the Dike and Flood Control Management Department under the MAE or the Search and Rescue Department under the Ministry of National Defence to propose access to State-managed disaster and rescue data for integration with their platforms to maximise effectiveness.

Phương confirmed that the MST and the Telecommunications Department are ready to act as focal points, connecting enterprises and initiative groups with management agencies to consider the possibility of putting these platforms into practical use. — VNS