Amid floods and landslides, DoT activates emergency mobile roaming in four Arunachal districts

GUWAHATI, June 27: In a major relief measure for disaster-hit Arunachal Pradesh, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has activated Intra-Circle Roaming (ICR) in four districts of the state to ensure uninterrupted mobile connectivity amid heavy rainfall, cloudbursts and landslides.

The emergency arrangement has been put in place in Keyi Panyor, Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansiri and West Siang districts and will remain operational till June 28, 2026.

The move comes after severe weather damaged telecom infrastructure across several parts of the state, disrupting communication services and hampering rescue and relief operations.

According to the DoT, flash floods inundated the NEEPCO telecom exchange at Posa in Yazali, rendering it non-functional. Multiple landslides between Potin and Yazali also damaged nearly 12 kilometres of optical fibre cable (OFC), leading to widespread communication outages.
The situation has been compounded by continuous rainfall, fresh landslides and disruption of commercial power supply, slowing restoration efforts.

Further damage to optical fibre infrastructure at Hoz also affected connectivity in Sagalee, Lemmi, Kampu and Seppa areas. Restoration teams have been deployed and are working to restore services through the Sopo-Hoz Maan route.

Recognising the critical importance of communication during disasters, the DoT issued immediate directions to all telecom service providers to enable ICR in the affected districts.

Under the arrangement, subscribers of any participating telecom operator can automatically connect to another available network if their home network is temporarily unavailable. The facility will also benefit visitors and rescue personnel from outside the state operating in the affected districts.

Officials said the measure is expected to significantly improve communication for residents, disaster response teams, healthcare workers and government agencies engaged in rescue and relief operations.

The Department of Telecommunications said it is closely monitoring the situation through its field units and is coordinating with telecom companies for the expeditious restoration of damaged infrastructure.

What is Intra-Circle Roaming?

Intra-Circle Roaming is an emergency telecom arrangement that allows mobile users to access another operator’s network within the same telecom circle when their own provider’s services are disrupted.

The DoT advised users to keep the “Automatic Network Selection” option enabled on their phones. If automatic connection fails, users can manually select another available network through their mobile settings.

The activation of emergency roaming comes as Arunachal Pradesh continues to grapple with widespread monsoon-related disruptions, including flash floods, landslides and road blockages that have left several areas cut off from the rest of the state.

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