Europe Braces for Phone Service Outages Ahead of Winter Energy Shortage

A coal storage site for German energy supplier Steag is shown in Duisburg, Germany, on April 5, 2022. Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images

Mobile phones may go dark in Europe this winter due to the energy crisis potentially affecting much of the cellular network across the continent.

The massive reduction of Russian gas supplies to Europe over the Ukraine conflict has led to the specter of power cuts, resulting in a panic among the European telecommunications industry, according to Reuters, which reported that industry executives fear that a harsh winter would seriously put their infrastructure under stress.

Utility companies and government officials in the European Union are trying to mitigate the impact of such a disaster.

There are currently not enough back-up systems across the continent to handle the widespread power shortages, which will likely lead to mobile phone outages, phone executives told Reuters.

Most European countries don’t have generators to back up power for an extended period.

States across the EU are trying formulate a plan to keep telecommunications running, even if power shortages overload back-up battery systems installed across the region.

France, which is dealing with the major issue of several nuclear power plants shutting down for maintenance over the coming months, is trying to take the lead on this issue.

Reuters reported that telecommunications operators and French electricity distributor Enedis have been discussing the issue over the summer.

Enedis told Reuters that all regular customers will be treated on an equal footing in the event of severe power outages.

The French utility said that it was able to isolate sections of the power grid to supply key customers, such as hospitals, strategic industries, and the military.

Company officials said that it was up to local authorities to put telecommunications infrastructure on the list of priorities in cause of a blackout.

The French Federation of Telecoms (FFT)—a telecommunications association representing phone companies Orange, Bouygues Telecom, and Altice’s SFR—pushed the responsibility onto Enedis for failing to exempt cellphone tower antennas from the power cuts.

France has about 62,000 mobile towers in operation, but the industry does not have the resources to equip all antennas with new back up batteries, FFT President Liza Bellulo told Reuters.

A European Telecommunications Crisis

Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, telecommunications company BT Group recently told the Financial Times that it did not need more backup power for the winter, but it was still assessing which noncritical systems could be switched off to save energy.

European telecommunication executives explained to Reuters that they were undergoing a review of their networks to reduce extra power usage and modernize their equipment with more energy efficient cell towers.

The phone utilities will install new software to optimize traffic flow, allow cell towers to “sleep” when not in use, and utilize different spectrum bands.

They said they would work with their government agencies to make sure that the back-up plans were fully functional in order to maintain critical services in time for winter.

Telecommunication companies in those three countries said they are coordinating with government authorities in case of extended power shortages.

Swedish communications regulator PTS will finance the purchase of transportable fuel stations and mobile base stations in order to handle longer power outages, while Germany’s Deutsche Telekom will use its diesel powered mobile emergency back up systems in the event of prolonged power failures.

Italian communication companies are hoping the new Italian government will exempt them from energy saving cuts during mandatory power rationing.

European phone manufacturers Nokia and Ericsson told Reuters they were working with mobile network operators to mitigate the impact of potential power shortages.