Telecommunications regulators in Dominica and St Lucia are encouraging consumers and businesses to consider backup communication plans following a significant service disruption that left many Flow customers without connectivity for nearly 19 hours earlier this week.
According to a press release issued by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commissions (NTRCs) of the Commonwealth of Dominica and St Lucia and the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), members of the public should explore suitable alternatives to help mitigate the impact of unexpected service interruptions in the future.
The recommendation comes after a widespread outage affected Flow customers in both islands from approximately 5:30 PM on Sunday, June 21, until network services were restored at about 12:40 PM on Monday, June 22.
The regulators said they are fully aware of the disruption and have already engaged Flow to obtain a comprehensive report on what caused the incident.
Based on preliminary information provided by the telecommunications provider, the outage stemmed from a fault on a fibre transmission route linking Guadeloupe and Antigua.
At the time, Flow, via press release, had informed the public of the malfunction, with assurances that the company was actively working to restore services.
Flow has since informed regulators that it is taking measures to improve the resilience of its network and reduce the risk of similar outages occurring in the future. Among the measures being considered are alternative connectivity solutions, a review of network route resilience, and the creation of additional fibre pathways to provide greater redundancy, as per the joint statement.
ECTEL and the NTRCs said they will assess Flow’s proposed solutions as well as broader steps to strengthen network resilience across all ECTEL Contracting States and among all telecommunications operators.
The regulators acknowledged the considerable inconvenience caused by the outage, particularly for consumers, businesses, and organizations that rely heavily on uninterrupted telecommunications services.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and review the information provided by the operator to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to improve service reliability. We encourage the public to consider their own plans for suitable backup or redundant communications in the event of unexpected service outages,” said the release.
The agencies also reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining a telecommunications environment that supports dependable services for consumers throughout the region. They further pledged to promote transparency regarding the causes and resolution of network outages whenever such incidents occur.
