If you think that heat waves have nothing to do with telecom, then here is something you need to keep an eye on. Over time, summers, heat and heatwaves have become the biggest tension for telecom companies as it has been impacting the ranges from the continuation of mobile services to network expansion.
As India witnesses heatwaves with summers just starting (in April), the weather has turned out to be extremely hot throughout North India and it will continue till July-August.
As per the Meteorological Department, there is a possibility of severe heatwaves which might impact people in May and June. And not only humans but telecom service providers of the country like Airtel, Jio, BSNL and Vi (Vodafone-Idea).
How will summers and heatwaves affect network expansion in the country?
As per the report, experts believe that due to the increasing temperature, the biggest tension of telecom companies is to continue the mobile services and network expansion. Due to the continuing heatwave and increasing heat, there is a need to install more ACs in the control rooms, where all the wires are connected, which supply power to the mobile tower 24/7.
With the continuous use of air conditioners in the control rooms of the telecom towers, the expenditure will automatically be upscalled which will become another additional burden on the revenue of telecom companies.
Besides, because of excessive heat, the tower installation work will also be delayed- as the workers will have to take relative breaks and keep them hydrated during the scorching heat.
Also, to supply enough cooling in the control room of telecom towers, there have to be enough generators to be installed in remote areas of the country- where power cuts are the major concerns. This will upgrade the cost of fuel which will also be borne by the telecom operator. At present, all four leading telecom companies of the country - Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone-Idea (Vi) and BSNL are upgrading their towers across India.
Jio and Airtel are making all their towers compatible with 5G service along with the additional towers being installed for better connectivity. Likewise, Vi is also preparing to launch its 5G services in India, for which the process of tower upgrade is ongoing.
Fight to continue mobile connectivity
BSNL, a government telecom company is also going to start its 4G service in the country by August. For this, the company is set to install 1.9 lakh mobile towers across the country, which will certainly take place in the summers itself- from May, June, and July which peaks in the summer heat and heatwaves.
Not only this, BSNL is further making all its towers compatible with 4G and 5G, so that 5G service could be launched in future and operated smoothly.
As per the Industry experts, due to heatwaves, the process of tower expansion might slow down- meaning it will lower the speed of network upgrades, and users might also face problems related to mobile connectivity.
