Telecom companies in Europe raise power alarm: Send SOS letter to EU

As the winter gets more severe Europe’s top telecoms operators are worried about power cuts affecting their services. In an emergency services lobby, the telcos have urged Brussels to shield mobile and fixed grids from power cuts. These companies have sent a letter, reviewed by news agency Reuters, to the EU to voice their worry about loss of telecom networks during widespread blackouts. The joint letter is the first formal step by the European Telecommunications Network Operators (ETNO) and the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) to pressure the European Union executive body to step in.
The ETNO comprises former phone monopolies such as Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, Spain’s Telefonica and Telecom Italia, while EENA has more than 1,500 emergency services representatives of over 80 countries. The letter has been sent to Ditte Juul Jorgensen, director general of the EU Commission‘s energy department, and her counterpart at the communications networks department, Roberto Viola.
Perils of Ukraine war
Europe has been facing an acute power crisis in the wake of the war in Ukraine forcing countries to resort to energy rationing and power outages. Many key services such as emergency calls and infrastructure like telecoms networks may be put to the test this winter.

What the letter says
“Should telecommunications networks be subject to planned outages, citizens would risk not having access to communications services for the duration of the outage, including emergency communications,” the letter signed by the heads of EENA and ETNO said. “We are concerned that telecommunications networks may not have been placed on priority sector lists,” it added.
The letter also stresses that any back-up solutions are costly and fragile. “In our experience, batteries and diesel generators placed in mobile base stations are an easy target for vandalism and theft, and maintenance costs are high,” the letter said. “Extending the current limited own back-up energy supply of telecommunication networks is not an option, as it would be not only extremely expensive, but also as such an extension would take years,” it further adds.

Not the first time
In October too EENA expressed concern over the power crisis in an open letter published on its website. “However, access to emergency services relies on telecoms infrastructure, which will not necessarily be marked as critical infrastructure. Cell towers for mobile communications and local exchanges for fixed line communications could therefore be impacted. Recent media reports suggest that it may not be possible to guarantee uninterrupted power to these facilities particularly if those interruptions are for prolonged periods. This could affect access to emergency services for some citizens when needed. In simple words, it means that citizens may not be able to contact emergency numbers in the case of emergencies such as cardiac arrests or car accidents. It also means that civil protection authorities may not be able to warn all of the population about an imminent threat or natural disaster through public warning systems,” said the letter.
(With agency inputs)