February 4, 2022 Implementation of Anti-disaster Drills for Securing Communication Services in Times of Large-scale Disasters

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), local governments, telecommunications carriers, etc. will conduct joint drills to enhance and strengthen a system for early restoration of telecommunications services in the event of a large-scale natural disaster.

1. Background purpose

In recent years, natural disasters, such as typhoons, earthquakes, and heavy rains, have caused tremendous damage to telecommunication services, including landline phones and mobile phones that are important infrastructures for people’s lives.
In the event of a large-scale natural disaster, municipal and prefectural government offices as important centers for disaster response need to assess the damage to communications services at their locations quickly. Then they should perform emergency restoration so as not to interfere with activities, such as saving lives and supporting evacuees.
In times of disaster, it is important to quickly secure electricity and fuel, restore communication services, and clear the roads leading to the damaged communications facilities. The challenges include working with power companies and fuel suppliers to secure electricity and fuel and with road managers to dispose of fallen trees.
Therefore, to respond to these issues in a large-scale natural disaster, MIC, other national organizations, local governments in the affected areas, and telecommunications carriers have decided to conduct the drills jointly to simulate the initial response that should be carried out in cooperation.

2. Drills overview

1. Joint drill to secure electric power

• Area: Hokkaido region (Sapporo City, Hokkaido)
• Time and date: From 1:00 pm on Wednesday, February 9, 2022
• Assumed disaster
  The drill assumes a situation where communications services are damaged due to power outages in a wide city area caused by a major earthquake. Toward the early restoration of mobile phone base stations shut down due to power outages, MIC, telecommunications carriers, local governments, and electric power providers will conduct a joint drill to secure the necessary power for the base stations by promptly restoring power.
• Participating organizations
  MIC (Headquarters and Hokkaido Bureau of Telecommunications), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Hokkaido Industrial Safety and Inspection Department), Hokkaido Prefecture, Sapporo City, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation, NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corporation, Softbank Corporation, Rakuten Mobile, Inc., and Hokkaido Electric Power Network, Inc.

2. Joint drill to handle fallen structures, such as trees

• Area: Kinki region (Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture)
• Time and date: From 1:00 pm on Thursday, February 17, 2022
• Assumed disaster
  The drill assumes a situation where communications services are damaged due to widespread power outages in the city caused by a major earthquake, fallen trees causing the collapse of utility poles, and transmission line breaks. Furthermore, the drill assumes that fallen trees and landslides have made roads impassable and have hindered the restoration of mobile phone base stations and communications buildings. Therefore, to restore mobile phone base stations and communications buildings as soon as possible, prefectural and city roads that have become impassable due to fallen trees or landslides should be reopened promptly by clearing fallen trees. Accordingly, MIC, telecommunications carriers, and local governments will conduct a joint drill.
• Participating organizations
  MIC (Headquarters and Kinki Bureau of Telecommunications), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Kinki Branch of Chubu Kinki Industrial Safety and Inspection Department), Wakayama Prefecture, Tanabe City, West Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corporation, Softbank Corporation, Rakuten Mobile, Inc., and Kansai Transmission and Distribution, Inc.

3. Joint drill to secure fuel

• Area: Kyushu region (Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture)
  Time and date: From 1:00 pm on Friday, February 25, 2022
• Assumed disaster
  The drill assumes that communication services are damaged due to power outages and transmission line interruptions in a wide city area due to a typhoon. Toward the early restoration of mobile phone base stations shut down due to power outages, the necessary fuel for mobile power supply vehicles needs to be promptly procured. Accordingly, MIC, telecommunications carriers, and local governments will conduct a joint drill.
• Participating organizations
  MIC (Headquarters and Kyushu Bureau of Telecommunications), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ( Kyushu Industrial Safety and Inspection Department and Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry), Kumamoto Prefecture, Yatsushiro City, West Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corporation, Softbank Corporation, Rakuten Mobile, Inc., Kyushu Telecommunication Network Co., Inc. (QTNet), and Kyushu Electric Power Transmission and Distribution Co., Inc.

• *
  The drills may be conducted online to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus infections.

3. Drill content

It is assumed that liaison members are dispatched from MIC (headquarters and each Bureau of Telecommunications office) and from telecommunication carriers to the Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters set up in each expected disaster area.
The dispatched liaison members will hold a communication-related liaison and coordination meeting, collect, grasp, and share damage information on communications services. At the same time, they will conduct training through discussions with participants, including experts, about an ideal way of cooperation. The discussion themes will include the identification of issues related to power and fuel supply services and work on the disposal of fallen objects, such as trees, for the early restoration of mobile phone base stations and communications buildings, a study on countermeasures, and coordination with related organizations.