Rains affect telecommunications, making redemptions in RS difficult

In addition to having already caused at least 31 deaths, leaving 74 people missing and another 56 injured, the heavy rains that hit Rio Grande do Sul affected telecommunications services, making the work of rescue teams even more difficult.

In part of the 235 cities in Rio Grande do Sul affected by floods, floods, landslides and other consequences of the storms, public bodies and the general population were left without access to telephone and internet services. Bento Gonçalves, in Serra Gaúcha, around 120 kilometers from Porto Alegre, is one of these locations where the city hall itself became incommunicado.

“The telephone service is now operating, but since the weekend it has been fluctuating a lot and there are times when it does not work. This not only makes contact between Civil Defense and Samu teams difficult, [Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência]as well as the receipt of demands, requests for help”, reports Emanuel Mezadri, driver of the municipal secretariat of Public Security of Bento Gonçalves who answered the alternative telephone number informed by the Civil Defense at the time the Brazil Agency managed to contact the agency this Friday (3).

In the survey released this morning, the state Civil Defense points out that customers of the TIM operator in 87 cities are without access to telephony and internet. Claro users from 51 municipalities are also unable to access the services. Vivo faces problems in 19 locations. In order to minimize connectivity problems, the three operators allowed roaming between them. With this, users from one company will be able to temporarily access the network of the other two companies, depending on signal availability.

“The providers [dos serviços] They closely monitor the weather situation, which affects services such as the supply of electricity and leaves roads and streets in several cities without access, in order to safely resume the work of restoring damaged services. As a way of minimizing the impacts on the affected population, Conexis Brasil Digital members operating in the state have enabled their networks so that, where there is only one of the networks available, customers of any operator automatically access the available network”, he informed , in a note, Conexis, an entity that brings together telecommunications and connectivity companies.

To try to minimally reestablish communications in some regions, the Ministry of Communications ordered Telebras to provide emergency satellite broadband connection antennas to the Southern Military Command and the state Civil Defense. The 14 transportable satellite terminals (T3SAT) that the state-owned company delivered this Thursday will help rescue teams serve residents stranded by water.

“This is essential so that Civil Defense, the Fire Department and other professionals can act with more information in isolated locations. If necessary, those rescued can even use this equipment to communicate with their loved ones at this very necessary time”, commented the Minister of Communications, Juscelino Filho, in a note.

“The communications part was very affected [pelas intempéries]. Several municipalities are without communication. The operators [de telefonia] have already been activated and opened roaming. We are monitoring this closely”, added the minister, in a video posted on social media. According to Juscelino Filho, the ministry also “activated” Correios, another state company that, according to the minister, made itself available to, with its structure in the state, help the government’s actions. “We will now act to save lives and then come up with recovery actions, [procurando] reestablish communication in the region as quickly as possible.”