Internet can survive a few hours without electricity. But not many. Large data centers are protected with their own groups that can work indefinitely. But the network depends on intermediate groups that have a much shorter life, which can be seriously committed to how the one lived today in the Iberian Peninsula.
“Internet works because there are intermediate equipment (data switches), distributed throughout cities, do not need much less because the fiber is very fast,” says IMDEA Networks, Technological Research Center.
Although the large data centers survive, without these intermediate equipment the connection would not be possible: “It is as if the central nervous system worked, but not the peripheral,” says Azcorra.
Vodafone, for example, has reported that at this time its network remains active at 70%, thanks to reserve generators, but its operation will depend on the duration of the incidence. “From Vodafone Spain, we recommend that our clients have mobile communication to make a responsible use of it avoiding collapse the service,” says the company. Other telephone companies have not yet offered news about the situation of their networks.
Therefore, while the service is recovered, the connection depends mainly on wifi access, which needs electricity that can produce autonomously, for example, office buildings.
On the street, the base stations (the azoteas antennas) do not work if they are not close to critical places and have a special equipment to generate electricity, as can also occur in rural areas. For this reason, mobiles without access to Wifi are unlikely to work. “If someone walking near a critical place, as a general direction of security forces, it is possible that it connects, but it is normal to not be able to connect or call,” explains Azcorra.
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