Phone and broadband blackouts could be a cause for concern this winter amid ongoing threats of electricity outages, Senator Lynn Boylan said yesterday.
It comes amid fears of a “tumultuous” few months ahead. Speaking in the Seanad, Senator Boylan said that “once unthinkable scenarios” surrounding blackouts are now “a very real prospect”.
In such circumstances, calls to emergency services could be affected. Senator Boylan added: “One of the comforts years ago when we did have blackouts was we all had landlines and we all had public phones and you could use it if anything went wrong.
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“Even after the power comes back, we could be seeing prolonged outages of the mobile and broadband networks because the power outages increase the probability of electronic components failing if subjected to abrupt interruptions.”
The Senator asked what contingencies have been built into the communication network to prevent such a scenario. Junior minister Peter Burke assured her plans were in place to prevent a complete blackout and minimise the impact.
He said there were a number of plans, policies and protocols put in place by the Commission for Communications Regulation in the case of an event that impacts mobile phone or broadband communications or communications with emergency services.
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