Following the passage of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte, a large part of the telecommunications infrastructure was damaged. This is the case for mobile phone services and several fiber optic lines in the archipelago. Two weeks after the disaster, communications are still complicated. SMS, phone calls and Internet access are still hampered.
On site, Prime Minister François Bayrou has just announced the use of a batch of 200 Starlink kits to reconnect Mayotte to the rest of the world. The satellite Internet kits will come to "ensure emergency telecommunications", indicates François Bayrou. The use of Elon Musk's technology aims to "overcome the difficulties and respond to the emergency", but does not constitute a long-term replacement solution. The Prime Minister specifies that Mayotte will benefit from 5G and optical fiber "within two years". It is regrettable that this emergency solution was decreed two weeks after the cataclysm.
Orange's outburst
The announcement was not very well received by Orange, which has been struggling for weeks to relaunch the network on the archipelago. On X, the director of public affairs for the Orange group, Laurentino Lavezzi, regrets that the government is focusing on Starlink to the detriment of the operators.
The manager specifies that Orange has managed to offer network coverage to 75% of the population of Mayotte. He said he was shocked by "a communication from the Government that focuses its announcements on temporary Wi-Fi by Starlink, which is much less covering and efficient than a mobile network.".
Shortly after Laurentino Lavezzi spoke, several members of the Macron government praised the efforts of the operators, and Orange, to ensure communications on the archipelago, despite the considerable damage caused by the cyclone. This is the case of the Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology, Clara Chappaz, who thanks the "mobilization of telecom operators at the heart of the Mayotte Debout plan", or the Minister of Industry and Energy, Marc Ferracci, who highlights "the investment of technicians mobilized to restore the electricity and telecommunications networks to reconnect our fellow citizens and this in difficult conditions".
In response, the director of public affairs for the Orange group said he was ready "to rebuild in 5G to absorb the increase in radio traffic while fiber optics are deployed".
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