For 52,000 Bouygues Telecom and SFR subscribers, the mobile network was suddenly interrupted on the evening of Saturday 11 September. This Sunday, the Tarn prefecture indicated that this failure was linked to the arson of two relay antennas in the region of Albi.
If the situation was quickly restored for some of the affected subscribers, namely 20,000 of them, the others still have to wait. According to local authorities, technicians are currently working on the damaged relays in order to restore all communications “by the beginning of next week”.
Following deliberate damage to antennas, 52K Bouygues and SFR subscribers were impacted by a loss of network yesterday. As of last night, the situation was restored for 20K of them. Work is underway to restore the situation as soon as possible.
– Prefect of Tarn (@ prefet81) September 12, 2021
In the meantime, the prefecture advises those affected to dial 112 if they encounter difficulties in reaching emergency numbers such as 15, 17 or 18. An investigation has also been opened to clarify the circumstances. of the two arson attacks at the origin of this network failure.
On Twitter, the Secretary of State for Digital, Cédric O, “strongly condemns” these degradations. He ensures to act with Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, “alongside all the operators to put an end to these unacceptable acts”.
Recalling that “vandalism on mobile pylons […] cuts populations off from vital services ”, the Secretary of State refers to“ criminal malevolence ”[le]”, Which” endangers human lives “and must” be punished[e] severely”.
In 2020, around a hundred voluntary damage to telephone towers was recorded across the country. In recent months, several arson fires of the same type have been recorded, mostly targeting cell towers.