While thousands of homes have been damaged and access to water and food remains difficult, Mayotte has also suffered from a network problem since the passage of Cyclone Chido on December 14. Many infrastructures were swept away during the weather phenomenon, which contributed to isolating the department and its inhabitants.
The Prime Minister, François Bayrou, also raised the issue by unveiling his “Mayotte standing” plan, Monday December 30. “To overcome the difficulties and respond to the emergency, we will deploy 200 [antennes] Starlink to ensure emergency telecommunications”he declared.
These kits should provide emergency access to the internet thanks to the constellation of 5,000 satellites deployed by billionaire Elon Musk's company. But the head of the executive did not provide other details on the future state order or its operational scope. During his visit to Mayotte on December 19, President Emmanuel Macron announced the deployment, “from the week [suivante]“satellite internet connections. He added that the implementation would initially take place at the town hall level, then in relay zones, in order to allow the population to obtain access to the network.
Other local players already had a subscription even before the disaster. They have been attacked in recent days, reports La 1ère Mayotte. The Emanciper Mayotte association, our colleagues point out, is also trying to transport Starlink equipment to villages in the South.
“Satellite technologies are useful in these kinds of crises”confirms Tom Wright, Orange spokesperson. We have six SafetyCases in operation and six or seven more on order.” This equipment developed in France, which uses Starlink technology, can operate with a generator or independently.
They were notably set up at the field hospital deployed in Cavani, at the Mayotte electricity service in Longoni, and at the maritime transport company MSC, based in Koungou. In France, these large boxes use the EutelSat offer, with a geostationary satellite and powerful throughput. But in Mayotte, they are connected to the Starlink constellation. Furthermore, the group specifies to franceinfo that it has ordered around twenty Starlink kits for “create Wi-Fi bubbles”.
Operators, however, have another urgent challenge to address. “SafetyCases respond to occasional uses in critical areas, but the priority is to restore the mobile network for the entire population of Mayotte”continues Tom Wright. He mentions these “relay antennas folded in half”which will require “very heavy work”. Others, however, have been repaired or will be repaired soon. Mobile coverage has not yet been fully restored on the island and the situation is still difficult in the North. But progress is real and constant. At Orange, the population coverage rate rose to 78% on Tuesday, with 25 antennas in working order out of 67, compared to two after the cyclone.
François Bayrou's announcements aroused the anger of Laurentino Lavezzi, director of public affairs for the Orange group. In a vitriolic message posted on X, he regretted the lack of consideration shown by the Prime Minister for the technical teams. He also denounced decisions favorable to Elon Musk's company. “Thus, electric generators are directed as a priority to Starlink Wi-Fi hot points, while generators are refused to operators… And this, whereas with only four electric generators, Orange mobile coverage would increase from 75 to 85% of the population. An index of local tensions, commensurate with needs.
“Like everyone in Mayotte, we are looking for generators”summarizes Tom Wright for his part. “Regarding a purchase by the State of StarLink terminals, it would be necessary to consult directly with the State to identify these conditions and the intended use. We are not involved in this project.”
The other operators are also on the front line since the passage of Chido. Yves Gauvin, director of SFR Réunion/Mayotte, told franceinfo that the operator now managed to cover 85% of the population on Tuesday, with 33 antenna sites out of 67 now operational. “The situation remains complicated on site”however, qualifies the person responsible, because “we still have energy difficulties to reinstall the antennas in certain areas, and difficulties to reassemble the fiber in remote sites”.
He is impatiently awaiting the receipt of around twenty Starlink kits next week, which will undergo some preliminary technical operations in Reunion. This operation, quite distinct from government announcements, is original. These kits will in fact be transformed to take over from the relay antennas themselves, because the satellite connection will be used to go back to the heart of the network. This experiment, already tested in France, but new in Mayotte, remains a provisional solution, specifies Yves Gauvin, because the latency time of this mode of transmission (80 milliseconds) is greater than for fiber (of the order millisecond).
The restoration of communications, also reminds the manager, also depends largely on the electricity network, because it is sometimes delicate “to leave generators in nature”. At this stage, power has been restored to half of the customers, according to Electricité de Mayotte, but many geographical sectors are still heavily affected such as M'Tsangamouji (3% of connected customers), Acoua (8%), Mtsamboro (15 %) and Tsingoni (17%). Yves Gauvin, moreover, is impatiently awaiting the rehabilitation of a multi-operator TDF pylon (Orange, SFR and Free) on Mount Combani, around forty meters high and which ensures wide coverage, in the center of the island. This, he said, should intervene “the third week of January”.
Rotations are organized with teams from Reunion, continues Yves Gauvin, in order to take over from the teams engaged on the front line. If the manager mentions a certain “fatigue morale” among employees, collaborators always experience a “real pride” when they raise an antenna. “Employees have been working tirelessly since the early hoursabonde Tom Wright. Some have lost their homes or still have no electricity. They do a remarkable job.”
In the meantime, two teams from the NGO Télécoms sans frontières continue to travel through the most isolated areas in a vehicle. “We provide an open, self-service Wi-Fi network for two to three hours”explains to franceinfo Florent Bervas, head of the mission which also relies on Starlink kits. “All of this is powered by the vehicle’s battery.” A dozen communities were visited, allowing more than a thousand residents and their families to reconnect with loved ones. “In terms of bandwidth, there are sometimes 200 to 300 people and we configure the network as best we can to avoid congestion on the satellite link.”
“When we see people making WhatsApp calls without interruption, and notifying loved ones for the first time, we see a lot of emotion.”
Florent Bervas, head of the Télécoms sans frontières mission in Mayotteat franceinfo
“Our priority is homelessness, it’s trying to get through at least once every three days.” Florent Bervas will be able to count on a second vehicle, expected next week. The gradual resumption of the network, according to him, should allow all residents to be able to communicate again within a week or two, at least for SMS and voice. “But we need more generators and it’s a real logistical challenge, because after the arrival of air freight in Petite-Terre, we still have to reach Grande-Terre using barges.”
Even though so much remains to be rebuilt, François Bayrou promised the deployment of 5G and optical fiber “within two years”with a delegation whose role will be to “control the deployment” of these two technologies. To do this, specified the Prime Minister, a release of frequencies will be carried out, and a change in policy linked to the coastal law will be studied, “particularly for the installation of pylons”. The Mahorais, for their part, are already waiting for all the antennas to be raised to call all their loved ones and wish each other a slightly sweeter and more lenient year.
