President Gabriel Boric declared two days of national mourning starting this Monday due to the tragedy caused by forest fires in various regions of the country, where, as of Sunday night, 112 people had lost their lives. At the time of the President's announcement on Sunday afternoon, the number had risen to 64.
In the midst of this painful scenario, the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications released several reports regarding emergency alert messages through the Emergency Alert System, as well as the fall of antennas. It also urged residents receiving messages from the EAS to follow the authorities' instructions and called for a reasonable use of networks during the emergency.
The Subtel reported that, in coordination with the operators, emergency roaming was activated in the most affected areas to ensure users do not lose connectivity. In the latest report published on Sunday at 6:30 pm, the Subtel stated that 72 alert messages had been sent, and operators had reported 152 fallen antennas in the Valparaíso region.
In the O'Higgins region, preliminary reports indicated 30 fallen stations, while in the Maule region, 11 antennas were reported as fallen.
Meanwhile, operators such as Entel, Movistar, Wom, Claro, and VTR communicated measures to assist the population in the affected areas in maintaining connectivity. Wom, Movistar, and Entel are providing support through prepaid credit and reactivation of suspended services. On Friday night, Wom announced that it would waive data and call charges, including WhatsApp service, for all its prepaid customers in the region from February 2 to February 9. The company also reinstated services for those customers suspended due to non-payment.
Movistar reported that it has been working since the beginning of the emergency to restore affected services. The company managed to recover full connectivity in the region, including mobile and landline connections, despite ongoing power supply issues.
Entel implemented a contingency plan that includes supporting customers with debt and providing recharge vouchers for those with prepaid service, as well as SIM cards to assist emergency units. The company deployed over 23 teams in the field to ensure service quality and coordinated with other telecommunications companies to establish roaming during the emergency period.
Finally, Claro announced on its social media channels that it would reactivate suspended fixed and mobile phone services due to non-payment in the most affected municipalities, such as Viña del Mar, Quilpué, Villa Alemana, and Valparaíso. VTR, another company offering fixed and mobile services, took the same measure.