Floods disrupt phone services<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Flooding, caused by torrential rains that have hit Greater
\nJakarta for the last five days, has disrupted telcommunications
\nservices for both fixed line and cellphone users.<\/p>\n
A total of 17,100 telephone lines in the Greater Jakarta
\ntelecommunications region have suffered disruption.<\/p>\n
\"The disruption was caused by the flooding that has inundated
\nseveral service centers and central switching facilities in the
\nareas of Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang and Purwakarta,\" said public
\nrelations manager of state telecommunications company PT Telkom
\nThomik Armawan, as quoted by Antara on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The worst-affected areas were in East and South Jakarta, where
\n6,000 lines in Gandaria, Tebet and Penggilingan suffered
\nproblems. The West Jakarta areas of Cengkareng, Kedoya, Palmerah
\nand Slipi suffered the second-highest number of disruptions, with
\n4,000 lines affected.<\/p>\n
Flooding in Pasar Kemis, Cipondoh and Tangerang caused
\ndisruption to 3,000 phone lines in the Tangerang area.
\nFloodwaters 2.5 meters deep in the Ciledug area of South Jakarta
\ndisabled 1,900 lines, while 500 lines in the Pekayon housing area
\nand Permata Regency Cibitung estate, both in Bekasi, suffered
\ndisruption.<\/p>\n
In Bogor, 1,700 lines were disrupted due to falling trees,
\nwhich brought down telephone cables.<\/p>\n
Thomik said that in anticipation of worsening floods, Telkom
\nwould be on alert for the next 24 hours to optimize its central
\nswitching facility and to supervise the distribution points in
\nflood-prone areas throughout the region.<\/p>\n
Telkom has 2,485,151 private lines and 147,370 public lines in
\nGreater Jakarta, according to recent figures.<\/p>\n
Cellular providers were not spared the impact of the flooding.<\/p>\n
Telkomsel, the country's largest cellular provider, said that
\nflooding had disabled 55 of its 606 Base Transceiver Stations
\n(BTSs). A BTS is used to connect one cellphone to another.<\/p>\n
The BTSs were either inundated by floodwaters or located in
\nareas where the electricity was switched off by state electricity
\ncompany (PLN) for safety reasons.<\/p>\n
Consequently, subscribers in areas such as Tanah Baru Bogor,
\nBogor Lakeside, Jatibening-Bekasi, Pulau Gebang, Meruya,
\nJelambar, Taman Ria Senayan, the vicinity of Hotel Shangri-La in
\nSouth Jakarta and Cipinang could not make calls.<\/p>\n
\"We apologize for the disruption. We will try to normalize the
\nBTSs as soon as possible,\" R. Hermanses, Telkomsel's general
\nmanager for Greater Jakarta said.<\/p>\n
Hermanses said that some BTSs would return to normal as soon
\nas PLN turned on the power. Telkomsel has 1.2 million subscribers
\nin Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"We have sent technicians to repair damage and power
\ngenerators for BTSs,\" Hermanses said, without elaborating when
\nthe service might return to normal.<\/p>\n
While not sustaining such damage, PT Excelcomindo said that
\nflooding had slightly disrupted its services.<\/p>\n
M. Danny Buldansyah, Excelcomindo's general manager for
\nengineering said that the service was only disrupted in flooded
\nareas where PLN had to turn off the electricity.<\/p>\n
\"But most of our BTSs have been equipped with generators ...
\nso it's not too much of a problem,\" Danny told The Jakarta Post.
\nExcelcomindo has 400 BTSs to serve its 700,000 subscribers in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Flooding has also caused a traffic overload, as people stuck
\nin traffic jams or affected areas were relying on cellphones.<\/p>\n
\"The traffic was 20 percent higher than normal. That's why
\nsome customers complained that they couldn't make a call,\" Danny
\nsaid, adding that the service had returned to normal on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Telkomsel also had a similar experience. \"In many areas BTSs
\nare normal but people cannot make calls because of traffic
\noverload,\" Hermanses said.<\/p>",
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