Natural disasters and sustainable business
(Baonghean) - Communication is one of the contents of the "four on-site" in the work of preventing, combating and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters. It is the command communication system of the military forces, the police, the Flood and Storm Prevention Command from the central to local levels and includes the entire telecommunications infrastructure of the State and enterprises operating in this field. If these information systems operate well and firmly, they will help lead, direct and coordinate forces to carry out emergency tasks; help people proactively inform in evacuation, protect life and property.
In that system, mobile phone networks play an important role.
Having directly witnessed storms No. 10 and No. 11 and the ongoing flood in the Central region, we have noticed that when there is a natural disaster, mobile phone communication of some networks is very difficult, even "lost signal"; while at the same time, in that space, with other mobile networks it is still possible. During storm No. 10, in the center of the storm in Quang Binh, we witnessed the leaders of the Government and localities requesting representatives of mobile networks to urgently restore their systems, restore mobile signals that were lost due to the storm winds that broke many BTS transmission towers and damaged signal transmission lines.
The question is, why were only some networks severely damaged and completely paralyzed, while there were still mobile networks that were able to stand firm, and when the storm passed, they still had wide coverage, ensuring smooth information connection?
Some people think that: In a market economy with fierce competition, besides mobile network operators that determine sustainable business strategies, there are still mobile network operators that do business based on immediate profits, "live for the moment", they just need to quickly capture market share, have fast and wide coverage to attract a large number of customers to gain high profits. Therefore, they only need to invest in building infrastructure systems, installing machinery and vehicles in a minimalist way with the lowest cost and almost do not take into account natural disasters. And when natural disasters occur, they have to pay the price immediately: Their telecommunications system is paralyzed from the beginning!
In the days after storm No. 10 in Quang Binh, we saw V. network staff spreading out everywhere to rebuild transmission towers; despite great efforts, it took many days for this network to partially restore 2G signal, and 3G signal was only restored nearly 10 days later when we returned to Quang Binh. Many people and cadres, military, police, and militia in Quang Binh told us that through this storm they had learned that they should not stick to using the services of only one mobile network; some other people said they would switch to another more sustainable network...
Perhaps, this is an expensive "lesson" for network operators whose information systems, due to their lack of stability, were knocked down by storms, paralyzed information, causing great damage to reputation, brand and economy.
Thinking back, sustainable business in any field, time and space is still the truth, especially in the Central region where natural disasters often occur!
Tran Hoai
