Rapid Assessment for Resilient Recovery and ... - GFDRR

Losses
The losses in the telecommunications and broadcasting sector were accounted for by
calculating the loss of revenue due to the disruption of services caused by the floods, and
extra expenditures for emergency repair of damaged sites and reconnection of services.
The estimation of losses of revenues for public service providers for services disrupted
in the leased line and voice and data line is substantive, amounting to THB 543 million
over an estimated disruption period of three months. Based on the information provided
by a service provider and extrapolation based on the market share, the estimated loss of
revenues in cellular communications amounted to THB 636 million. Loss of revenues in
the television and radio broadcasting sub-sectors reported by public service providers and
community radio stations amounts to over THB 391 million. Thailand Post reported losses
of revenues of THB 5 million daily due to the impact of floods to its overall postal operations
and the closure of 36 post offices, amounting to a total loss of revenue of THB 125
million as of 18 November 2011.
The losses also include expenses incurred by public and private service providers in emergency
services such as the provision of power generation at cell sites that have lost power,
higher operational costs as well as preventive flood protection actions (sand bags, dikes).
They also include the extra services such as fee waivers provided by some telecommunications
service providers to subscribers for one month and free phone calls in the affected
areas, as well as financial support and compensation to flood-affected staff. The temporary
relocation of severely affected post offices to mail centers and/or bulk posting centers and
extra boat mailing service, etc. incurred an additional cost of THB 50 million.
Recovery and Reconstruction Requirements
The highest priority for the telecommunications sector within the next six months is the
full recovery of all services by all public and private service providers. In this respect, the
estimated needs for recovery and reconstruction were focused to cover for the next six
months.
Public and private service providers in Thailand have been proactive in re-establishing
services in areas where floodwaters have receded. Flood-damaged equipment has been
progressively replaced with new equipment and placed at higher locations, either on power
poles or higher raised platforms. The height is raised based on the historical depth of
floods.
Challenges to Recovery and Reconstruction
The flood situation in Thailand is not yet over at the time of this reporting. The needs for
substantive mitigation measures to be put in place during the medium term and into the
long term provided in this report are rough estimates. Telecommunications service providers
are preparing to carry out detailed studies to assess the impacts of their systems once the
flood is over and will provide information on future mitigation measures and costing when
available.
Another challenge in building back better in the telecommunications sector is the tradeoff
between the market-driven expansion of services and the need to critically review the
vulnerability of the networks in high-risk areas.
THAI FLOOD 2011 RAPID ASSESSMENT FOR RESILIENT RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION PLANNING
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