Staff Correspondent:

Amid the ongoing flood situation, at least 11 per cent of mobile network towers in 10 districts have gone out of order on Friday till 3pm, the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) says.

The BTRC said that a total of 1,461 towers were out of order.

More than 90 per cent of mobile towers in Feni were not working, said BTRC Engineering and Operations Director General Brig Gen Kazi Mostafizur Rahman. Feni has seen the worst of the floods, disrupting service from 590 of 656 towers.

In addition, 248 sites or towers in Noakhali, 50 in Lakshmipur, 351 in Cumilla, 18 in Brahmanbaria, 113 in Chattogram, 35 in Khagrachhari, 2 in Habiganj, 37 in Moulvibazar, and 7 in Sylhet were out of order.

The tower areas in all flood-affected regions were submerged, the mobile operators said. The towers do not have the power connections and the necessary technical equipment cannot be sent to them due to the strong current in the floodwaters. Hence, the operators cannot restore the mobile phone network until the current eases, operators said.

The BTRC said it was coordinating with concerned authorities to get uninterrupted power supply to keep the mobile towers working. It also ordered the mobile operators to keep the towers working using battery back-ups, diesel generators or portable generators.

The BTRC said it has opened a control room to ensure uninterrupted telecommunications service amid the floods.

Under the current circumstances, an emergency response team of 15 has been formed, it said. The team will work in the control room during and after the disaster.

The contact number for the BTRC Emergency Response Team is +8802222217152. People can also contact them by calling the BTRC call centre at 100.