By Xinhua,
Beijing : China’s communication industry has lost 6.72 billion yuan ($960 million) in the devastating May 12 quake that jolted the southwestern province of Sichuan, the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Friday.
On Thursday, officials said eight employees of local telecom companies in the quake-hit Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces had been confirmed dead, while many are injured or missing.
A total of 3,897 telecom outlets in the quake zone had reported losses. The quake has damaged 28,714 mobile communication base stations. Cable and telegraph poles were damaged.
The call volumes after the quake had been 10 times the normal level in Sichuan and had caused congestion in the network, an official said.
The ministry has urged the telecom companies to ensure communications in the quake-hit zones and requested users to make short calls before all the lines are restored.