The accident on the cellular network Vodafone in the Netherlands

The fire that broke out at 5 am on April 4 in Rotterdam, in a building located next to the communications center of the cellular operator Vodafone, spread to the node building and brought down the equipment located there. What caused two serious consequences - said in a published video (Eng.) Rob Shuter (Rob Shuter), CEO of Vodafone Netherlands.

Firstly, the subscribers registered on that equipment have lost the opportunity to call and receive / send SMS, no matter what part of Holland they are located. And, secondly, the network in Rotterdam, The Hague and suburbs was shut down.

The first problem was solved before noon by redirecting subscriber voice and SMS traffic to the switch in Amsterdam.
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The second problem the company planned to solve by the end of the working day. But as stated in the second clarifying video message , having fitted a replacement equipment truck and four dozen technicians to the scene of the accident, the company's employees had difficulty connecting equipment in the building of the site. This is probably due to the work of fire services and the disconnection of electricity to the building. Therefore, the restoration of service for the affected cities is planned on the night of April 4-5.

However, the biggest trouble is the 3G data network. Rob Shooter states that the company found some solution to restore the 3G network for approximately 50% of subscribers. Perhaps he is referring to the cooperation mentioned earlier in the company's materials with two other operators operating in this region: KPN and T-Mobile.

Vodafone is the second largest mobile operator in the Netherlands, after Royal KPN, and the accident affected about a quarter of the approximately 5 million operator subscribers living in the densely populated southern regions of Holland. In a fire, as reported, no one was injured, because at that moment there were no people in the building. The failed node is one of 12 key Vodafone network nodes in the Netherlands. The causes of the fire are specified.

Sources:
Bloomberg: Vodafone Dutch Clients Lose Service After Rotterdam Fire (eng.)
Vodafone.nl: Statement: Storing Vodafone door Rotterdam (Goal)

I really like how quickly the company responded to a big problem, did not play hide-and-seek and claim that everything works. And the fact that regularly updated data is published is also encouraging. In terms of the number of victims (~ 1.25 million subscribers), the accident is destructive for the consequences of a typhoon, earthquake or tsunami, but this is just a fire. However, if you are attached to the number of the cellular notification from the bank, then you will not receive either them or one-time passwords. You won’t find out if the child will be back from school soon and how long a friend is late. Customers will not be able to reach you if you use a number or channel of a cellular operator for business purposes. We are now very dependent on mobile communications. Losses in money for business due to the lack of fast 3G Internet hardly anyone will count, but there is no doubt that they will turn out to be significant.