With the threat of Hurricane Beryl bearing down on Dominica in the next couple of days, Digicel has put its hurricane contingency plan into high gear to ensure that everything is in place to best manage the events of the coming days.
Specifically, Digicel has ensured that all of its cell sites across the island are in good order and ready to go and has made the decision to take down some cell sites temporarily as a precautionary measure in select areas. Though this means reduced or, in some cases, no coverage for a period of time, it also means that service can be brought back up quickly once the storm has passed.
Areas affected by this include Canefield, Pottersville, sections of Goodwill and Mahaut where service will be available around six hours after the all clear has been given.
In urging everyone to do all they can to prepare for Beryl’s arrival and to stay safe, Nikima Royer Jno Baptiste, CEO of Digicel Dominica, comments; “Our primary concern is the safety of the people of Dominica who are still of course recovering from Maria last year. In order to ensure that we can hit the ground running as soon as the storm has passed and the all clear has been given, we have decided to take down some of our cell sites temporarily as a precautionary measure – but will move at speed to bring service back up in the shortest time possible.”
She continues; “We would like to take this opportunity to remind people to take the necessary steps to stay safe and prepare for the storm by stocking up on basic items, securing their homes, keeping their phones charged and topped up so that they can communicate with their loved ones. Likewise, we have done everything possible to ensure that we are ready to weather the storm and have mobilised our technical teams and field engineers across the island.”
Here in the states, the cell phone company do not turn off the towers in advance of a storm… That does not seem right.. people need to be able to communicate…
I would like to know why the weather channel is not functioning on digi play in such a crucial time.