BEYOND UPTIME: REDESIGNING TELECOM FOR DISASTERS

India is shifting from post-crisis restoration to engineered resilience-hardening sites, ring fibre, hybrid power, satellite backup, and PPDR.

- LT GEN DR SP KOCHHAR

Telecom networks have quietly become India's most critical safety net.

In every flood, cyclone, or landslide, people instinctively reach for their phones to seek help, locate family, and access essential services, turning connectivity into a lifeline for citizens and a core instrument of national security and disaster response.

Over the past few years, there has been a clear policy shift in that direction. The Department of Telecommunications, working with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, has put in place a Disaster Risk and Resilience Assessment Framework that maps the vulnerability of towers, fiber, and power in high-risk states such as Odisha, Uttarakhand, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat.

The assessment speaks in the language of cyclonic wind speeds, storm surges, landslides, and earthquakes because that is the operating environment for the networks. For the industry, this means moving from “best effort uptime” to networks that are deliberately designed for resilience under stress.

LESSONS FROM RECENT DISASTERS IN INDIA

Recent disasters have shown both how far the sector has come and what remains to be done. During the Tripura floods in August 2024, unprecedented rainfall and swollen rivers damaged roads, power lines, and telecom sites across multiple districts. Within a few days, more than 94% of telecom services were restored as operators worked with the Department of Telecommunications and the State administration to replace equipment, reroute traffic, and keep people connected. Intra-circle roaming was activated so subscribers could latch on to any available network, prepaid validity was extended, and relief workers could coordinate food, shelter, and medical aid.

Tripura proved that services can be restored quickly—if the necessary roaming, permissions, spares, and SOPs are in place before the disaster hits, not after.