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The current status of damage to the main communication facilities are as follows.
*Based on the site survey, above numbers were corrected on November 28th, 2011.For details, please visit the following website of page7.
(https://www.ntt-east.co.jp/info/detail/pdf/shinsai_fukkyu.pdf[2.83MB])
The earthquake and tsunami disrupted commercial power supply and caused equipment failure in approximately 1,000 exchange offices. NTT East responded by deploying emergency batteries, emergency power generators and mobile power supply vehicles to provide power. However, some exchange offices remained inoperable, resulting in the disruption of a total of approximately 1.5 million circuits at maximum in telephone subscriber lines, ISDN and FLET'S Hikari (FTTH) services as of March 13.
Under these circumstances, NTT East has thus far, with the help of other NTT group companies and construction companies, mobilized a total of some 6,000 people to make an all-out effort to restore these services. By 1:00 p.m., March 28 (JST), approximately 95 percent of the exchange offices have been restored along with the recovery of commercial power supply, leaving 55 dysfunctional exchange offices and approximately 110 thousand affected circuits remaining to be restored.
Number of circuits with communication service failures
Unit: circuits
Service | As of 1:00 p.m., March 28 | As of 1:00 p.m., March 13 |
---|---|---|
Telephone subscriber lines | 81,500 | 898,100 |
ISDN | 7,500 | 108,100 |
FLET'S Hikari | 23,300 | 512,700 |
Total | 112,300 | 1,518,900 |
Note: Figures exclude failures due to circuit disruptions between customer homes and NTT East exchange offices.
The damage and restoration status of the exchange offices with discontinued services (55 buildings) as of March 28 are as follows.
Degree of damage | Number of buildings | Method of restoration | Expected restoration date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
A | Only minor damages to buildings, but power supply facilities are damaged by flooding, etc. |
16 | Replacement of power supply facilities, adjustment of communication facilities, replacement of failed parts, etc. |
Mid-next week |
B | Significantly damaged relay transmission lines due to a collapsed bridge | 4 | In addition to case A, reconstruction of transmission lines (construction of backup relay routes and re-erection of poles) |
Mid-April |
C | Demolished exchange offices and facilities, significantly damaged relay transmission lines, etc. | 26 | Construction of exchange offices, installation of switchboards, reconstruction of transmission lines after road restoration |
Aiming for late April but may delay* |
D | Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant area | 9 | Once the evacuation order is lifted, confirm the status and take any necessary measures | TBD |
Also, if the degree of damage is assessed as "C" and municipal government office buildings are located within the area of an applicable exchange office, as a general rule, stopgap repair measures will be implemented within a week and public administration and other important circuits will be restored (5 buildings).
Forecasted number of days needed for restoration of services in exchange offices with discontinued services
Mid-next week | Mid-April | End of April (approximately)* |
Unknown | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Iwate | Iwaizumi area | 1 exchange office | 1 exchange office | ||
Miyako area | 2 exchange offices | 1 exchange office | |||
Kamaishi-Kaminakashima area | 2 exchange offices | 1 exchange office | |||
Ofunato area | 11 exchange offices | 2 exchange offices | |||
Miyagi | Kesennuma area | 2 exchange offices | 4 exchange offices | ||
Ishinomaki, Oshika peninsula area | 15 exchange offices | ||||
Sendai-Matsushima area | 2 exchange offices | ||||
Fukushima | 2 exchange offices | 9 exchange offices | |||
Total | 16 exchange offices | 4 exchange offices | 26 exchange offices | 9 exchange offices |
Note: The end of April is targeted, but there may be a delay depending on the situation. Details will be announced separately once the timing of restoration is confirmed.
Telephone poles, communication cables and other facilities outside NTT exchange offices suffered significant damage due to the earthquake and tsunami. Immediately after the earthquake, it was difficult to inspect these facilities as restricted areas were set and traffic controls applied, but as these restrictions were rescinded, NTT East has been confirming the conditions in these areas using helicopters and other means, and will direct its efforts towards service restoration going forward in accordance with the damage situation and the reconstruction of the cities.
After the earthquake struck, NTT East established a Disaster Countermeasures Office in its headquarters office, as well as Disaster Countermeasure Offices in the stricken prefectures, thus creating an organizational structure capable of close collaboration 24-hours-a-day. With a team of approximately 5,000 people, these Disaster Countermeasure Offices then commenced efforts to understand the extent and nature of the damage and initiate restoration.
Among others, in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, the three prefectures where the damage was the greatest, a wide-area support structure was built, with staff dispatched from headquarters and other branch offices, as well as receiving assistance from NTT West and other group companies. Currently, a team of approximately 6,000 people are handling the restoration efforts.
(To address full restoration of services, it is planned that telecommunication construction companies will be added to the team to reinforce these efforts going forward.)
To secure a means of communication for people affected by the earthquake, NTT East has installed in 738 locations 2,308 special public telephones that are available for use free of charge (as of 12:00 noon, March 28 (JST)). This accommodation has been implemented in almost all locations requested by local governments.
Also, NTT East made the existing public telephones in the six prefectures located within the Tohoku region available for use free of charge immediately after the earthquake. At 7:00 p.m. on March 11 (JST), 122,000 public telephones across the entirety of Eastern Japan were made available for use free of charge. Currently, following the lifting of call restrictions, public telephones remain free in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.