Residents in Moskenes municipality face ongoing mobile outage as Telenor works to restore services

On Monday afternoon, residents of Moskenes municipality experienced a disruption in mobile connectivity and internet access. Svein Erik Anderssen hoped the outage would be brief, but two days later, services remain down. He noted, “We lost both data and phone service. To regain connectivity, we have to drive about ten kilometers to Reine, which is quite a trek just to make a call or use mobile data.”

Anderssen expressed concern over emergency services saying, “It could turn into a critical situation if someone needs to reach emergency services and can’t make a call. We are 60 kilometers from the nearest hospital, and searching for a signal could cost valuable time.”

The mobile provider Telenor has acknowledged the issue affecting the region. Vetle Andersen, Telenor Norway’s communications manager, explained that the problem was more complex than initially thought, caused by a heavy vehicle colliding with a pole that supports a fiber optic cable serving the base station in Sørvågen. Crews were deployed to address the issue, working through the night, but anticipated a longer repair time than expected.

Andersen apologized to those affected and assured them that efforts to restore service are ongoing. He mentioned that the outage should not impact emergency numbers as long as alternative coverage exists. According to another provider’s coverage maps, residents in Å and Sørvågen may still be able to reach emergency services despite the Telenor disruption.