– This is not sustainable in 2024, says Høyanger Mayor Petter Sortland. A total of over 800 people are without coverage in the municipalities of Høyanger and Gulen after a submarine cable in the Sognefjord broke on New Year’s Eve. In addition, there is also mobile phone coverage on parts of E39, the main road between Bergen and Ålesund. As a result, five base stations are out of service. Over 800 people in Høyanger and Gulen have been affected by the incident. The Lavik-Oppedal ferry connection is also without coverage. Photo: Skjermdump / Telenor This happens especially to many elderly people and others who depend on security alarms to notify the municipality if they need help. Because without coverage, they are not allowed to notify. According to the municipality, this applies to nine people. – We take this very seriously, says mayor Sortland. In Gulen, there are 12 people without a working security alarm. news has been contacted by residents who are worried about safety. Some tell of less serious accidents, but where there has been a need for help. – Now Telenor has to get off the horse and sort this out, says mayor of Høyanger Petter Sortland. Photo: ARNE STUBHAUG / news Due to a lack of mobile phone coverage, one has not been able to get in touch with others. The municipality is now on high alert, and especially in health. – Does this mean that persons without functioning security alarms are sufficiently detained? – Yes, the increased preparedness means that the home help is extra on call and has more visitors. The emergency network must work, says the mayor. Frode Akse has had to turn many customers away because the pumps and the electric car charger do not work. Photo: Oddmund Haugen / news Drivers who have stopped at Lavik Machine Center to fill up with fuel from the tanks here, or charge their car, have had to drive on. Here, not a single drop has come out of the tank since New Year’s Eve. – It has created a number of challenges, says daily manager Frode Akse, who says they have lost a good deal of money on this. – Although such incidents happen from time to time, it should not happen in our time, he says. Rejects sabotage Bjørn Amundsen, director of coverage at Telenor, says he understands the frustration of those who are affected, but that once things go wrong with submarine cables, it takes a long time to re-establish them. The cable has a socket several hundred meters down on the seabed. The submarine cable runs from land down into the Sognefjord. The cable ran about 15 meters from shore, but the other end of the cable has not been found yet, it lies several hundred meters deep and is not particularly easy to find. Photo: Telenor – It will be “enormously expensive” and take many months to repair the 28 kilometer submarine cable, says Amundsen. Telenor is working on another solution that can provide residents with coverage during Wednesday. The connection to the base stations that have been affected will be reconnected. This solution can be permanent if it works well enough. The future of the submarine cable has therefore not yet been decided. Wear and tear is probably the reason why the submarine cable broke. Telenor denies that there is talk of sabotage. Such submarine cables should not actually break, but it still happens about four times a year, says Amundsen. Undersea cables are not supposed to break, but it still happens about four times a year, says Bjørn Amundsen, coverage director at Telenor. Photo: Telenor The sea cable ran about 15 meters from shore. According to Firda, this happened at Kyrkjebø in Høyanger, but Telenor will not comment on this for security reasons. Increase preparedness – We haven’t had any unfortunate incidents so far, but we are watching extra closely, says municipal director Irene Søreide in Gulen. Over 400 people over the age of 18 have been affected. They are distributed among 209 households. In addition, close to 160 other buildings such as farms and cottages were damaged. Gulen has also increased preparedness and issued information to residents about how they can reach the emergency services. 12 people are without a working security alarm. Cables can either be in the air, on the ground or in the sea. The problem with submarine cables is that once things go wrong, it takes a long time to rectify the fault, says Amundsen in Telenor. Photo: Telenor Heimetenesta has its own preparedness against these, and there is also an emergency network they can use, says Søreide. Eivindvik school and Brekke kindergarten and school are completely without internet and mobile coverage. The hope is that coverage will soon be back in the entire municipality. – We notice that it is vulnerable. We are reminded that such cables can have such big consequences, says Søreide.
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Break on the sea cable in the Sognefjord – twenty-something elderly people without a security alarm – news Vestland
