After destructive storm, Latvia to draft plan for mobile network resilience in crises

Transport Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (JV) has instructed mobile network operators, together with the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC), Tet, and the Transport Ministry, to prepare by September 11 an action plan aimed at strengthening the resilience of the communications sector during emergencies, the ministry reported.

The decision followed a Wednesday meeting where the minister and operators, along with LVRTC, discussed the damage and communication outages caused by the recent severe storm. Participants stressed the importance of information exchange and coordination among services during crises, and agreed on next steps to reinforce network resilience.

What the plan will cover

The plan will address both possible regulatory changes and specific investments in strengthening critical infrastructure. The ministry emphasized that in emergencies, mobile communications are part of the state's critical infrastructure, since their absence endangers not only service availability but public safety as a whole.

The plan aims to set minimum resilience requirements for network elements whose failure could affect large areas, significant numbers of residents, or emergency services. Such base stations could face stricter requirements for backup power, generator access, fuel reserves, and operators' response capacity. The ministry also wants to find a way to share the necessary funding burden between the state and private companies.

Roaming and satellite communications

Meeting participants also discussed introducing a national roaming solution for emergencies, allowing residents to use another operator's network if their own operator's service is down in a given area. However, the ministry noted this cannot replace investment in physical infrastructure resilience — if a power outage knocks out all operators' base stations simultaneously, there is no network to switch to.

The ministry is also considering using the EU's Govsatcom satellite programme, which since this year provides secure satellite communications access during crises, as well as the future IRIS² programme.

As previously reported, on August 22 Latvia was hit by the strongest summer storm in recent decades, with wind speeds locally exceeding 30 metres per second. Around 277,000 customers initially lost power, and grid damage was followed by disruptions to communications, fuel stations, and shops. Three days after the storm, about 11,000 customers still lacked electricity.