The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has activated Intra-Circle Roaming (ICR) in selected districts of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland to ensure uninterrupted mobile connectivity following disruptions caused by heavy rainfall, cloudbursts and landslides.
The emergency measure has been introduced to maintain communication services for residents, disaster response teams, healthcare workers and government agencies engaged in relief and rescue operations.
According to the Ministry of Communications, telecom service providers have been directed to enable Intra-Circle Roaming in the affected districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir; Sibsagar, Charaideo and Jorhat in Assam; and Mon district in Nagaland.
Under the ICR arrangement, mobile subscribers can automatically connect to another telecom operator’s network within the same telecom circle if their own service provider’s network becomes unavailable due to damage or disruption. The facility will also benefit visitors from other parts of the country travelling through the affected districts.
The Department of Telecommunications said it activated its emergency response mechanism immediately after communication networks were affected by adverse weather conditions. It is closely monitoring the situation through its field units and coordinating with telecom service providers for the early restoration of normal telecom services.
The ministry said Intra-Circle Roaming is a disaster-response mechanism that allows users to access mobile services through another available network when their home operator’s infrastructure is temporarily out of service.
To use the facility, subscribers are advised to keep the Automatic Network Selection option enabled on their mobile phones. If the handset does not automatically connect to an available network, users can manually select another network by going to Settings > Mobile Networks > Network Operators.
