Parikkala builds backup radio network as border communications fail

Parikkala has built southeastern Finland’s first village radio network and established an emergency support centre in a former village school, Yle reports. The measures are intended to maintain communications and provide accommodation when telephone and electricity services fail.

Mobile network problems have long concerned Jarmo Paajanen, who lives in Rantakylä near Finland’s eastern border. Telephone connections are unreliable, and television reception also disappears from time to time, he said.

The problems began after the 3G network was dismantled in the municipality, which has 4,300 residents, several years ago. They have worsened since Russia began its war of aggression, as radio interference along Finland’s border has increased.

Paajanen said residents near the eastern border need subscriptions with several operators to maintain connections in different situations. Even that is not always enough.

“Sometimes you get a connection with one subscription, sometimes with another,” he said.

Paajanen and his brother now have a WHF radio phone as part of the village network.

“It is very important to us. We need to be able to communicate from here if something serious happens,” Paajanen said.

Eight base stations cover Parikkala

The idea for a backup communications system had been developing among residents for some time, according to Antero Tykkyläinen, who helped establish the network.

“Quite a few people came to say that we have no means of communication if the electricity is out for a long time and the telephone no longer works. That was the push for me to promote the village radio,” he said.

Eight base stations, purchased mainly with Leader funding intended for rural development in the European Union, provide coverage across Parikkala. The network uses WHF radio phones of the type also used by hunters. Several hundred are in use in the municipality.

The village radio network also covers local volunteer fire brigades. This means that emergency services can be alerted from different parts of Parikkala even if other communications are down.

Village radio networks and evacuation and accommodation arrangements for exceptional circumstances are also being developed in other parts of Finland through the Kylävara project, led by Suomen kylät ry and funded by the EU’s Rural Development Fund.

Former village school becomes emergency base

Parikkala has also prepared for crises by establishing an emergency support centre at the former Intsilä village school, which now operates as a village house.

The building has accommodation for several dozen people, cooking facilities and a lakeside sauna for washing. Heating can be maintained independently with large masonry stoves.

“People can come here if an exceptional situation lasts a long time and there is no electricity,” Tykkyläinen said.

He said rural residents increasingly need to rely on local resources as government support for remote areas declines.

“If we do not use our own resources, help will not come here. Our own help is the best help,” Tykkyläinen said.