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The telecommunications network of ETECSA suffered significant deterioration this Wednesday following the general blackout in western Cuba, which left large areas of several provinces without service or with very limited access.
A report indicated significant impacts on radio base sites and cabinets, with particularly high effects in Havana (58% of radio bases affected) and Pinar del Río (46% of radio bases and 55% of cabinets), as well as damage in Mayabeque (38% and 25%) and Artemisa (20% and 35%).
The information emphasizes that the recovery of the signal will depend on the restoration of electricity: “As electricity is restored, the availability of services will increase.”
The connectivity collapse occurred alongside a major electrical event that left provinces from Pinar del Río to Cienfuegos without power.
Around 5:00 a.m., a failure was reported in a transmission line linking the Santa Cruz del Norte thermoelectric plant to Guiteras (Matanzas), causing an overload in the parallel line and resulting in the "direct consequence" of a division in the electrical system.
As a result of that incident, several generating units in Mariel, Santa Cruz del Norte, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (Cienfuegos), and Felton (Holguín) went out of service.
According to Alonso, Céspedes and Felton were in the process of starting up, and technical teams were working on the recovery of the system.
The communicator also stated that the restoration would be “faster” pbecause a total disconnection did not occur, and confirmed the beginning of the electrification of substations in the west, a necessary step for the gradual recovery of the service.
In that scenario, the power outage immediately impacted telecommunications: without power, radio bases and cabinets are rendered inoperable or are functioning partially, resulting in areas without coverage, intermittent calls, and nearly impossible navigation.
The ETECSA report was issued at 11:00 a.m., when widespread disruptions were still ongoing, and the recovery depended on how quickly the electrical system could reconnect and stabilize.
The crisis was exacerbated by the inherent fragility of the SEN. On the same day, it was reported that Unit 1 of Felton was again offline, "in emergency free run," just hours after synchronizing, a further symptom of the instability pushing the country towards prolonged blackouts and, as a domino effect, massive interruptions in communication services.
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