Serbia Hit by Floods &#8211

Serbia hit by floods – Telenor doing its part

The worst floods in Serbia for decades sent tens of thousands people out of their homes and killed more than twenty, leaving large parts of the country without electricity power and with damaged infrastructure. Telenor puts massive efforts to maintain functionality of its network and support rescuing.

Life-saving communications

Due to heavy flooding, torrential rains, landslides and interruption of the power supply, mobile communications in some parts of West Central of Serbia are impeded or temporarily down. With the state of emergency proclaimed and difficult access to equipment locations, people at Telenor support services have been working round-the-clock to provide regular network coverage. For this purpose, close mutual cooperation between Ministry of telecommunications, State Crisis Headquarters, local crisis teams and all mobile operators has been established. Mobile operators, in cooperation with Ministry of Telecommunications, established national emergency number 112 - for people endangered in flooded areas that need the rescue team's help or evacuation.

Regular network functioning is a priority

„Functioning of the network and the toll-free number 112 remains our priority. That number is the same for all operators and can be dialed from phones without a SIM card as well. At this moment all Telenor services in the affected areas are functioning normally again. Our teams have been working round-the- clock to defend and fix base stations in the affected area," says Goran Vasić, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and the head of Telenor Crisis Team. The town of Obrenovac is the one hardest hit with flooding. Despite mandatory evacuation some people chose to remain. As base station batteries’ life drained, people in the area lost communication with the outside world. Telenor field teams, in cooperation with the police, managed to transport a power generator by boat and connect it to the base station at the top of a building in Obrenovac downtown. As of Sunday, 18 May, 2 am, the base station has been fully operational, significantly improving the network coverage in this part of the town. Total normalization of mobile traffic across affected areas is expected with the improvement of weather conditions and the establishment of regular power supply of the base stations.

Telenor Group is one of the world's major mobile operators. We keep our customers connected in our markets across Scandinavia and Asia. Our more than 30,000 employees are committed to responsible business conduct and being our customers' favourite partner in digital life. Connecting the world has been Telenor's domain for more than 160 years, and we are driven by a singular vision: to empower societies. Contributing with donations and humanitarian aid

Faced with one of the worst natural disasters in country's history, people of Serbia are showing strength and compassion, but it is just not enough. Help is needed, and Telenor Serbia is doing its part. Telenor Serbia and Telenor Group have donated 10 million RSD each. “The welfare of people in the markets in which we operate is of the outmost importance for us in Telenor Group. This is why we promptly reacted to Telenor Serbia invitation to join their initiative and provide help,” said Kjell Morten Johnsen, Executive Vice President and Head of Telenor’s European Operations. Ove Fredheim, CEO of Telenor in Serbia emphasized that the company’s priority network stability, as it is critical for communication with people in the affected areas. “We have a long road of recovery in front of us, and financial assistance is only one of the steps in providing support to those in need,” he said. Telenor employees have organized a campaign of collecting humanitarian aid for the victims in the flooded areas and those who had to leave their homes. Response was overwhelming, with employees from all over country sending aid. Much needed equipment was provided to Serbian Red Cross, State Crisis Headquaters, Municipality of Belgrade and RTS public service.

More than 400 000 Telenor customers donate by SMS

Immediately after the scale of the disaster was evident, national humanitarian number 1003 was activated - to help the population in flooded areas. Funds raised in this way will be used to provide the necessary assistance to the affected population and repair damage caused by floods. To date Telenor customers sent more than 400,000 SMS messages.

Providing much needed access to internet and information on social networks

Social networks proved to be critical communication channel for people stranded in the flooded areas. Accessing social media through Telenor network enabled people to stay connected with their loved ones, get and share important news. With that in mind, Telenor Serbia has provided all users in the flood-affected areas with 1GB of free Internet traffic. Use of this service is closely monitored so as not to endanger regular functioning of the network. Telenor's extensive use of social networks and its website to distribute relevant information proved to be a right decision. Information regarding status of the network in affected areas, humanitarian effort and guidelines for emergency preparedness and response, are regularly updated on Telenor website and Social network accounts on Facebook and Twitter.