Latvia plans stronger mobile networks for future crises

Latvia’s Transport Ministry is considering measures to strengthen mobile network resilience after a storm, including allowing customers to use another operator’s network during emergencies, LSM reported.

The ministry wants to set a minimum resilience level for mobile operators to improve access to communications during crises. Possible measures include developing national roaming for emergency situations and using the European Union’s Govsatcom satellite communications system.

On Wednesday, ministry officials discussed the necessary improvements with representatives of mobile operators and Latvia’s State Radio and Television Centre.

The meeting was the first step in assessing how mobile communications functioned during the storm. No final conclusions have been reached on what should be changed to ensure that residents and services involved in dealing with storm damage or rescuing people can maintain access to mobile communications during a crisis.

Alexander Beliaevs, head of the radio network department at Bite Latvija, told Latvian Radio that information about the performance of mobile networks during the storm had been collected.

“We are thinking about the problems we encountered and how to solve them in the future. This was the first meeting after the storm, and we now need to compile all our thoughts on what worked poorly and what worked well, and then generate new ideas,” Beliaevs said.

He said the ideas might eventually be incorporated into regulations, but there is currently no specific plan and possible solutions are still being discussed.

The meeting also addressed national roaming, which would allow mobile customers to use another operator’s network during a crisis. For example, a Bite Latvija customer could make a call using the LMT or Tele2 network. Operators support the proposal, Beliaevs said, adding that it would not be particularly difficult to implement technically.

Tele2 technical director Liga Krūmiņa said mobile network resilience also depended heavily on energy resilience, including whether electricity would be available during a crisis.