Wireless Watch Japan is also covering Japan's telecom/mobile situation in Japan. They are showing my previous blog entry as well. I may not cover everything, so please also refer to WWJ. Wireless Watch Japan
Michi
Japan Telecom Recovery - ITU deploys Satellite phones, 3/16
Not only DoCoMo and KDDI, but also ITU is bringing in more satellite phones to Northern Japan. Geneva, 16 March 2011 — ITU has dispatched emergency telecommunications equipment to areas severely affected by the tsunami that struck the coastal areas of Japan following Friday’s devastating earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale.
ITU has deployed 78 Thuraya satellite phones equipped with GPS to facilitate search and rescue efforts along with 13 Iridium satellite phones as well as 37 Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network terminals. An additional 30 Inmarsat terminals are also ready for dispatch. The equipment can be charged by car batteries and are also supplied with solar panels to enable operations during power outages....(see below for full text)
Michi
Japan Telecom Recovery - Web sites for rescue, 3/16
Many web/net service players are working hard to support the recovery effort, by providing critical information for affected people. I already have reported about the emergency bulletin board service by telecom carriers, so here are some other useful ones. "Google Person Finder": Simple service to upload and search whereabout of people. Available in Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese (mainland/Taiwan), Portuguese and Spanish.
"Google Crisis Response": Total portal site for related information, including government announcement, medical info, emergency bulletin board access, rolling blackout map search service, Red Cross donations and many more. Available in Japanese, English, Chinese (mainland) and Korean.
"Google/Honda/Pioneer Road Map": This is pretty amazing. The map shows the blue mark on roads where actual automobile traffic happened on the previous day, grey shows roads with no traffic, informing which roads are open for automobiles. It utilizes the GPS data uploaded from Honda Internavi Premium users' navigation devices, service operated jointly by Honda and Pioneer.
"Google Person Finder BB Photo Album": Photos of person finder bulletin boards are shared.
"OLIVE": Non-profit wiki site to share useful ideas for everyday life under the crisis, such as how to keep you warm with newspaper and stylofoam, how to cope with toilet situation, map of food distribution locations, etc. Available in Japanese, English, Korean and Chinese (mainland).
"Yahoo! power info page": Shows detailed info about rolling blackout, and provide tips to save energy.
"Anti rumor info": Blog "Ogigami-Shiki" and "Dema Chain Mail" list the typical false rumor on the net regarding the quake, and show the facts against them. There are some serious false rumors about relief operations, environmental polution etc., and some donation scams have started to pop up on the Net.
My friends over at AMN have gathered and auto-ranked the sites (utilizing data of social book marks, Facebook/Twitter mentions etc.). Some corporate sites, such as TEPCO and Tokyo Metro (subway), are included on this ranking as well.
Source: AMN Tohoku Earthquake Info Ranking
Michi
Japan Telecom Recovery - DoCoMo Rations Satellite Phones, 3/16
NTT DoCoMo has temporarily stopped commercial sale of it satellite phone service "Widestar", to give priority to the emergency use. DoCoMo is currently providing 324 satellite phones and 362 mobile phones to local governments and Japan Self Defense Forces. Source: WirelessWire News 3/16
Michi
Japan Telecom Recovery - Details of emergency deployment, 3/16
I found another info source about the mobile service status as of 3/16, around noon. NTT DoCoMo
- Among 1970 unfunctional cell sites, FOMA sites are 1480 sites, and is broken down to Aomori 15, Iwate 440, Akita 5, Miyagi 720, Yamagata 3, Fukushima 160 in Tohoku, and 130 sites in Kanto Koshinetsu area.
- Mobile cell sites 30, mobile power generator 30, portable power generator 400, multi-charger (for 18 handsets per unit) 80 are deployed. Mobile cell sites are at Kamozaki-machi, Miyako-shi, and Matsuzaki, Kesennuma-shi. Mobile power generators are at base stations in Mashiba (Ichinoseki-shi), Miyagino-ku Tago (Sendai-shi), Miyagino-ku Tsurugaya (Sendai-shi), Wakabayashi-ku Oroshimachi (Sendai-shi).
KDDI
- As of 3/16, 7am, 1110 cell sites are unfunctional, including 960 in Tohoku and 150 in Kanto area. Voice traffic restrictions is made for 5% of calls from Tohoku area, and all the other restrictions are already lifted.
- 24 satellite phones are rented to city governments.
- As of 3/15, 4pm, mobile cell sites are deployed in Kamaishi City Hall (Kamaishi, Iwate), Ofunato City Hall (Ofunato, Iwate), Kesennuma City Hall (Kesennuma, Miyagi), Tagajo City Hall (Tagajo, Miyagi), and Ishinomaki Hagurocho Base Station (Ishinomaki, Miyagi). They also have dispatched more than 100 power chargers.
Softbank
- 995 cell sites are unfunctional. Mobile cell sites, mobile generator and chargers are being dispatched.
Michi
Japan Telecom Recovery - Another quake, another disruption, 3/16
At 3/15, 10:31pm, another quake struck eastern Japan. This time, epicenter was Shizuoka prefecture, and the magnitude was 6.4 - equivalent of New Zealand earthquake a few weeks ago. Oddly, nobody takes it seriously in Japan now - it is just another tremor. Due to this quake, some more telecom service became unstable. NTT DoCoMo placed 80% traffic restriction on calls to Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Kanagawa prefectures, and some parts of Tokyo and Aichi prefectures right after the quake. However, they lifted the restriction on 3/16, 0:22am. Current restrictions are effective in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima (up to 50%), Ibaragi (up to 30%), Gunma (up to 60%) as of 3/16, 11:34am.
Unfunctional cell site number is down to 1970 sites as of writing. No effect was made by the Shizuoka quake.
Source: Nikkei Newspaper, 3/16
Michi
Japan Telecom Recovery - Mobile cell sites deployed, 3/15
As previously reported, mobile operators are working hard to recover their cell sites. Source: Nikkei Newspaper 3/15
DoCoMo, whose 6720 sites damaged at the peak on 3/12, has reduced the unfunctional sites down to 2130 by 5pm on 3/15, which corresponds to 20% of total 11,000 sites, orignially deployed in Tohoku area.
KDDI's damage was down from 3800 to 1500 sites, Softbank from 3786 to 1157 sites, both compared to the peak of the damage.
Damage by the tsunami will take a long time, and the carriers are deploying mobile cell sites to the emergency shelters. As of the time of reporting, DoCoMo has brought in 30 trucks, KDDI 5, and Softbank 1.
Still, traffic restriction is in order, with DoCoMo 80% restricted and KDDI 20%, as of morning of 3/15. I suppose it is because DoCoMo has a lot more customers in the area.
Michi
Japan Telecom Recovery - Electronic parts shortage, 3/15
Japan has a significant global market share in many kinds of electronic parts and material, such as DRAM, flash memory, and silicon wafer, and a lot of factories are located in the affected area. Those items are expected to be short supply and will give impact to the global consumer electronics prices. Bloomberg: Memory Chip Prices Gain on Concern of Material Supply Shortage After Quake
Wall Street Journal: Quake Sparks Tech Supply Shortage Concerns
Source: WirelessWire News 3/15
Michi
Japan Telecom Recovery - Mobile bill relief status, 3/15
Cable channel "TV Japan" has been broadcasting the disaster news 24 hours now, and it just reported that the victim toll (death+missing) surpassed 10,000, worst since WWII. Nuclear reactors in Fukushima are still out of control, new quakes continue, and panicking people are buying up food, resulting the shortage at stores. Crisis still continues. In the meantime, telecom carriers in Japan are giving relief of payments for their subscribers.
Source: WirelessWire News, 3/15
KDDI
- Extend au mobile March bill due date for 1 month for the residents of the affected area and the ones who are paying at counter.
- For the same users as above, cell phone repair charge at au store is discounted.
Softbank Mobile
- Extend Softbank Feb/Mar bill due date for 1 month for the residents of the affected area and the ones who are paying at counter.
- For the same users as above, cell phone repair charge at Softbank store is discounted.
- For a week after 3/11, all mobile e-mails and SMS will be free for all Softbank users.
Wilcom and E-Mobile also provide the similar bill payment relief for subscribers.
Michi
Japan Telecom Recovery - Undersea Cable Status, 3/14
Despite the early reports, it looks like many undersea cables reaching to Japan have been damaged. GigaOM 3/14
But Japan has lots of cable connected to the U.S., China and other destinations and the re-routing seems to be working fine. I personally have not had any problem accessing Japanese websites from the U.S.
Source: WirelessWire News 3/15
Michi