Latvia to strengthen communications resilience and assess Starlink

Latvia’s Transport Ministry is preparing a communications resilience plan after the August storm caused widespread outages, LSM reported. The plan would ensure critical infrastructure remains operational for at least 72 hours and allow people to use other mobile operators’ networks during a crisis. The Saeima Economic Affairs Committee has also called for assessing the use of Starlink satellite internet.

The storm showed how dependent mobile communications are on electricity. Ministry data indicate that about 30% of Latvia’s population lost mobile service during the storm. Operators restored service for 80% of those affected within the first 24 hours, including with the help of generators, but some people remained without communications for longer.

The ministry has been instructed to develop a plan that would provide residents with basic communications services during prolonged power outages. The first priority would be ensuring that everyone can call the emergency number 112. The second would be cell broadcasting, which also requires a functioning mobile network. The third would be restoring mobile services sufficiently for people to make voice calls and send text messages. Restoring mobile data would be the final step.

The plan would also establish a clear order for restoring communications at specific locations and facilities linked to national security. These include critical infrastructure, the armed forces and state administration facilities.

Transport Ministry Parliamentary Secretary Jānis Upenieks told the committee that measures were being developed to keep the priority communications system operating independently of power outages. Amendments were being submitted to the government on Tuesday to ensure roaming services could be used during crises.

“Regardless of whether you have a Tele2, Bite or LMT connection, in a crisis it will be possible to connect in roaming mode,” Upenieks said.