Creating resilient telecom infrastructure

• The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, released a report on India’s telecom networks’ preparedness for disasters.

• Telecom networks are crucial for disaster management as they allow quick communication between State and National Disaster Management Authorities and local municipalities.

• Telecom networks are particularly vulnerable due to their lack of fully underground cabling, towers that can withstand high wind speeds, and their reliance on a steady flow of electricity.

• Telecom networks are impacted in disasters by high-speed winds, overland cables snapping, and power failures.

• The report recommends measures to develop a resilient telecom network, including greater data collection and coordination among officials, a more robust power infrastructure, and requiring cell towers to withstand higher wind speeds.

• The report also advocates for a dig-once policy, recommending building as much underground civil infrastructure as possible simultaneously to reduce the risk of cables being damaged when other infrastructure is built.

• The report also touches on commercial interventions, such as parametric insurance, which incentivizes telecom operators to bring networks back online rapidly.

• Telecom resilience involves both massive interventions and small investments that can have a significant benefit.