In a crisis situation, it is important that the telephone works. But when it got 40 degrees cold and the power went out, Telia’s mobile network was also knocked out in Älvsbyn.
Not just parts, but the entire municipality’s telephony.
– This incident shows the vulnerabilities that exist in society, and first and foremost how dependent we are on a functioning electricity supply, says Telia’s technical director Staffan Åkesson.
Now the battery needs to be replaced
The mobile phone is completely dependent on the power grid to function. However, the telecommunications companies are obliged to have batteries in the masts so that they can handle a one-hour power outage in urban areas, and four hours in sparsely populated areas.
Even Telia’s mast in Älvsbyn couldn’t handle that, which led to the municipality’s entire telephony being knocked out.
– We have replaced the battery and are investigating what caused this, says Staffan Åkesson, technical manager at Telia.
Old document had the correct number
Both the municipality and the county board tried in the emergency situation to contact Telia and draw the company’s attention to the problems, but without success in reaching the right person.
Later, the county administrative board found the correct phone number in a document from 2018.
– You can compare it to Vattenfall, which goes out once every six months with an updated list of telephone numbers that the municipalities must call, says Anders Öhlund, preparedness director at the county administration in Norrbotten.
Investigation must improve cooperation
According to Telia’s technical manager, however, there are established communication routes that the county administrative board should have used.
Here Telia explains the situation in the clip above.