Thousands without electricity, mobile, Internet connectivity
Published:Friday | July 5, 2024 | 12:10 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Thousands of Jamaicans are unable to connect with family members after losing mobile connectivity on Wednesday during the passage of Hurricane Beryl.
The powerful Category 4 storm devastated sections of the island, triggering a major power shutdown across the country.
On Thursday, Digicel Jamaica confirmed that more than 50 per cent of its cell sites lost power connectivity, affecting customers islandwide.
A further 25 per cent of its cell sites were operating on generators and battery power, the telecommunications company said.
The Office of Utilities Regulation records show that Digicel had 3.09 million registered handsets with a penetration of 106 per cent up to 2022.
Digicel said that customers have been experiencing disruption in their mobile service because of the loss of public power supply to several of cell sites.
On Wednesday, the Jamaica Public Service disclosed that 60 per cent of its customers had been without electricity across the island.
Three days ago, Digicel said its systems were ready for Hurricane Beryl and that its cell sites were refuelled and critical supplies in place.
Further, it also said response teams were in position.
On Thursday, Stephen Murad, Digicel’s CEO, said he and his team were working to address the outage as a matter of urgency.
“Right now, speed of recovery is everything. The sooner we’re able to get power supply, the sooner we’ll be able to restore service to our customers on the affected sites,” he said.
Murad said the company is refuelling generators that have been working since the hurricane struck and is also coordinating with emergency response teams to clear blocked roads and downed power lines leading to its cell sites.
“Our hard-working teams are moving about the country to quickly assess and restore service. As a primary provider of connectivity to over two million people, we know how important it is for them to stay connected. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience, and we thank our customers for their patience and understanding.”
Meanwhile, Flow Jamaica said 25 per cent of its mobile network was unavailable on Wednesday during the hurricane’s passage.
The company said it is actively monitoring its network following the disruptions.
“Despite downed cables, downed poles and trees that affected cables and service wires, Flow can report that our network performed well ... as we have maintained approximately 75 per cent mobile network availability and 70 per cent fixed (Internet and landline) network availability.
“In most instances, the disruption in our service is a result of commercial power outage,” Flow said.
On Tuesday, ahead of the hurricane, Flow, too, said its preparations were far advanced to maintain its network resilience during the passage of the hurricane.