NTT Communications provides earthquake update

NTT Communications Corp. reported progress in its efforts to restore communications services in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku region of Japan on March 11.

The carrier says it successfully switched traffic from damaged fiber-optic submarine cable lines to avoid major communications outages. PC-1 North and PC-1 West were likely among the damaged cables to which NTT referred. (See “Fiber effect of Japan earthquake still sorting out.”) Repair work on the damaged cables has begun; NTT Communications says it expects the damaged cables to be back in service “sometime between April and early May.”

On land, the carrier says that it has restored approximately 12,500 lines for IP-VPN and e-VLAN services; the quake and tsunami knocked out about 15,000 lines. Emergency power generators have been installed in communication facilities and data centers to prevent disruption of communications due to rolling blackouts implemented by Tokyo Electric Power and Tohoku Electric Power.

Meanwhile restoration work on other services, such as NTT East’s fixed telephone and fiber-optic access services and NTT DOCOMO’s mobile services, is showing progress. The NTT Group has set up free public phones and mobile base-station vehicles at evacuation centers and other strategic locations. It also is offering phone- and Internet-based systems to help people confirm the safety and whereabouts of others.

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