Unfazed by Record Heavy Rain... No Issues in Communication Services

Heavy rain poured over the Seoul metropolitan area and the Yeongseo region of Gangwon Province on the 3rd, as citizens hurried on their way to work around Gwanghwamun, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] Since the 8th, record-breaking heavy rain has poured in the central region, causing flooding damage in various places, but it has been confirmed that communication services are being provided smoothly. As heavy rain is forecast until the 10th, the three mobile carriers plan to continuously monitor the situation.

According to the telecommunications industry on the 9th, due to heavy rain and lightning the previous day, power outages occurred in some areas of Seoul, temporarily affecting some wired services, but each carrier is responding by rerouting base stations to prevent communication service disruptions.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the amount of rain that fell in the Seoul area from midnight on the 8th to 8 a.m. on the same day reached 422mm.

The Meteorological Administration predicted that there would be places in the metropolitan area where heavy rain of 50 to 100mm per hour would fall. The metropolitan area and inland and mountainous areas of Gangwon Province are expected to receive over 300mm of heavy rain by the 10th.

Accordingly, the mobile carriers are closely monitoring the weather situation while assessing flood damage.

An SKT official said, "We are operating a comprehensive control room 24 hours a day to monitor damage caused by heavy rain and lightning. We are making every effort to ensure the safety of field workers in communication infrastructure and to maintain smooth operation of wired and wireless communication infrastructure. Although some relay stations experienced functional degradation due to power outages caused by heavy rain and lightning, it has been confirmed that the impact on communication service quality is minimal. The relay stations with degraded functions are currently being inspected and repaired."

A KT official said, "There may be some impact on wired services due to power outages caused by heavy rain and lightning, but there have been no unusual customer voice (VOC) reports, and in the case of wireless, communication is proceeding smoothly through base station rerouting during power outages. We are monitoring for signs of failure in preparation for emergency situations."

An LG Uplus official said, "There are no problems with base stations or mobile communication," adding, "We are currently assessing flooding cases in individual buildings."