Telecoms services restored after deadly Malawi floods

by MAVHUTO BANDA
LILONGWE – TELECOMMUNICATIONS services that had been recently disrupted by heavy and persistent rainfall in Malawi are fully restored.

Network operators have reached the breakthrough, in collaboration with government.

Services had been interrupted in the Central and Southern regions after the inclement weather in December and early January damaged critical national infrastructure.

Optical fibre infrastructure laid along road corridors were impacted, in addition to bridges being swept away and electricity supply stalled and causing outages at several base transceiver station (BTS) sites serving the regions.

The disruptions triggered the activation of the Emergency Telecommunications Operations Centre (ETOC), which serves as the national coordination hub for disaster response to ensure continuity of telecommunications services.

Mayamiko Nkoloma, Acting Director General of the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), commended network operators for restoring services under difficult conditions.

“I applaud the dedication and professionalism of our engineers, who worked around the clock in a highly challenging and risky environment to ensure continuity of telecommunication services,” the official said.

Nkoloma added, “Beyond emergencies, our engineers continue to sacrifice a lot to get to hard-to-reach network infrastructure for maintenance or refueling of generators.”

ETOC brings together the telecommunications operators, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi, Department of Disaster Management Affairs and other key stakeholders.

They monitor network performance, coordinate restoration efforts, prioritise critical infrastructure and minimize service disruptions during disasters.

One of the world’s poorest countries, Malawi is prone to climate change, which result in severe flooding.

In Malawi, the ongoing flooding spell in Southern Africa has left at least 36 people dead and 170 000 in need immediate humanitarian assistance.

– CAJ News