The heavy rain caused by cyclone Michaung during the first week of December 2023 has severely damaged cables and infrastructure of internet service providers across Chennai.
While the connectivity has been restored in many locations, consumers in few pockets still seem be struggling for access. Service providers on the other hand have deployed additional workforce to handle the situation in rain-affected areas. It took time for power to be restored in many locations and that was also a challenge for the technical team of internet service providers.
Bala Malladi, CEO of ACT Fibernet, said: “Almost 35% of our base was down due to extended power shutdown and water logging during first 48 hrs. We restored services of almost 90% customers by December 6 and 95% customers by December 8. The last 5% of our customers’ network had massive damage and we have to re-build the entire last mile network to restore their services. Some outskirts of south and north Chennai were severely impacted and did not have access for restoration.
