From the strawberry village Valldal to steep mountain sides in Rauma runs county road 63. The stretch, which leads to Trollstigen, is one of the most popular tourist roads in the country. In 2019, there were over 1.1 million visitors here. Destroyed by uver No, the area is without mobile coverage. The storm at the end of April destroyed Telia’s base station at Trollstigen. The base station is the world’s first sustainable base station and is powered by sun, wind and hydrogen. – Several of the solar cells have fallen down. In addition, lightning strikes have led to major damage to the equipment, explains Daniel Barhom, information manager at Telia. Telia’s base station in Reinheimen National Park covers the area of Trollstigheimen, Slettvikane, Meiadalen and Langfjelldalen. There is no mobile coverage here until the base station has been repaired. Photo: Telia 3000 vehicles a day Telia is the only operator with mobile coverage along the route. During the tourist season, cars, tourist buses and caravans are packed here. In the course of a day, about 3,000 vehicles drive the eleven-kilometer-long road. It is not uncommon to meet cyclists and sheep on the road, and there have been several accidents. In 2016, a bus drove off the road and one person died. It is not possible to call the naudetata If an accident should happen now, people will not be able to call the naudetatane. The department head at the 110 exchange in Møre og Romsdal fears it could lead to a serious situation. – On such a busy road, there is a risk that something could happen. The more people, the greater the chance, says Kjetil Vikås, who believes that it is urgent to get the base station back into operation. Fylkesveg 63 leads to Trollstigen, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Norway. Photo: Marianne Løvland / NTB scanpix Waiting for spare parts According to Barhom in Telia, it is demanding to get spare parts for the base station. They must be ordered from abroad. In addition, they have to use a helicopter to get to the base station because the road is damaged. The base station is scheduled to be repaired on June 30. – This has our highest priority. We do everything we can to correct mistakes, says Barhom. Daniel Barhom is information manager at Telia. Photo: Telia Does not feel safe Mette Hovden has a cabin in the area, and without mobile coverage she does not feel safe on the road. – It is quickly done that things can happen. That one then has to move many kilometers to get coverage and be notified of the naudetata, is not safe, says Hovden. She is requesting information from Telia about what is happening. – On the website and on the coverage map, it looks as if everything is in the most beautiful order. Those at customer service say that there is nothing wrong. Why is the information not available? – We strongly apologize for the inconvenience this causes to people. I will take care of the website. If anyone has more questions about this, they can contact customer service, says Barhom who wants to clean up. It is not possible to get mobile coverage from Mette Hovden’s cabin. Photo: Privat Manglar straum Telenor, which lost the competition to expand its mobile network in the area, is interested in offering its customers coverage in the future. – Some of what prevents us is a lack of electricity. The base station does not produce enough power for two operators, says Telenor’s coverage director, Bjørn Amundsen.
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A destroyed base station means that there is no mobile coverage in Trollstigen – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
