Disconnection is an unbearable burden in the digital age
2022-07-19
Recently, several network outages have occurred in foreign countries. Different from the previous disconnection events, the world has generally entered the digital era. After the disconnection, people's lives, enterprise operations and public services have been more seriously affected than before. This has also triggered discussions among all parties: how to minimize the impact of network disconnection on social operation at a time when human production and lifestyle are highly digitalized and heavily dependent on the Internet. Network outages occurred in many countries At 1:35 on July 2, KDDI, a Japanese telecom operator, suffered a nationwide network failure. SMS, ordinary phone and emergency phone all failed. A large number of businesses based on KDDI network, such as weather data, express logistics, ATM and Internet of vehicles, fell into paralysis, affecting as many as 40million users, making it the most serious network outage accident in the company's history. By the morning of July 3, about 70% of the services were restored. 40 hours after the failure, the network has not yet fully recovered. KDDI said that it is conducting network testing and limiting traffic. Three days after the failure, it is still difficult for KDDI users to make voice calls. Finally, it took the company 86 hours to fully resume communication services. KDDI said that the fault was caused by problems during regular maintenance and replacement of voice call router. In the subsequent repair process, it encountered traffic concentration, which led to the company having to restrict user access, and then triggered a series of chain failures, leading to the collapse of call and data communication services. Japanese general affairs minister Kyoko Kim specially held an interim press conference on July 3, criticizing KDDI's response as "insufficient from the perspective of users", and saying that the failure was a "major accident" as defined in the "electrical and communication industry law". On July 7, the 5g service of NTT DoCoMo, a Japanese mobile communication giant, failed for about an hour. From 18:15 to 19:25 that day, the Internet communication of 5g service of the company was interrupted, and voice calls were not affected. The company said it was investigating the cause of the problem, which affected Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Aichi, Gifu, Sanyo and Shizuoka counties. In October last year, NTT DoCoMo had a serious network failure, and the voice and data communication of 12.9 million users could not be realized within 29 hours. On July 8, Rogers Telecom, Canada's largest wireless network service provider, experienced a large-scale network outage, affecting millions of users. People were unable to call the police, swipe their cards in supermarkets, and withdraw money from ATMs... During the two days of the Internet outage, all withdrawal, payment, and transfer businesses of three of Canada's five major commercial banks were forced to close; The telephone and network of government agencies such as the Canadian service department and the Canadian Revenue Agency were all cut off; Hospitals and public health service networks have been seriously affected, including Canada's largest public transport system; The arrivecan application, which must be logged in to enter Canada, also interrupted access, which meant that everyone could not enter the country, and the 911 emergency call, known as "never interrupt", was also blocked for a time. A large number of people flocked to cafes, public libraries, hotels and other places that have not been disconnected from the Internet to "rub the Internet". This is the second time that Rogers Telecom has been disconnected in 15 months. The company said in a statement on the same day, "today we have disappointed everyone." It is reported that the reason for the disconnection is the coding error, which leads to the overload of the router and finally leads to the shutdown of the core gateway. Shang Pengfei, Minister of industry of Canada, said the disconnection was "unacceptable". Disconnection causes "Butterfly Effect" At present, with a high degree of digitalization, the disconnection of the network has brought a serious impact on social operation. The huge effect of the "Butterfly Effect" and the serious consequences of individual cases have been beyond imagination. KDDI users flocked to social media to complain that some taxi drivers were unable to use credit cards or electronic payments due to network disconnection. The most complained problem is that emergency calls cannot be dialed due to network disconnection. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the first two days of KDDI's disconnection coincided with the weekend. The total number of 110 emergency calls in the capital region was 11860, a decrease of nearly 10% over the previous weekend. Within two days of the failure, the call volume in KDDI network decreased sharply, while the call volume of public telephone increased significantly. At present, there are few public telephones on the streets of Japan, and almost no one cares about them at ordinary times. After KDDI was disconnected, people rushed to the streets to look for public telephones. According to media reports, the 34 year old naisu Zhizhi walked fast on the streets of Osaka for 15 minutes on July 3 before finding a public phone. What is more worrying is that KDDI's disconnection coincided with the high fever and epidemic in Japan, which led to some untimely rescue events. According to Kyodo news agency, on July 3, the temperature in central Tokyo exceeded 35 degrees Celsius for the ninth consecutive day, the longest high temperature record in Japan since records began in 1875. In Hokkaido, two male climbers got lost on a mountain at about 15:00 on July 2. One man's mobile phone battery ran out, and the other man was unable to call for help because he was using KDDI's network. The two finally contacted their friends through the line program and were rescued that night. A large number of patients with COVID-19 can't be contacted because of network disconnection. Relevant medical departments said that some patients are likely to aggravate their condition. Yamagata municipal government in Japan can only send a notice to the public through social media: "if you are worried about your health, please use a different mobile phone operator or use a fixed line phone to call the public health center." A heart attack patient in a clinic in the North District of Tokyo urgently needed to be transferred to a major hospital during the disconnection of the network. Staff contacted five hospitals, and each said that the patient could not be admitted because they could not contact a surgeon. After several efforts, the clinic finally found a hospital, but the other party still said that it could not promise surgery. Ito, the director of the clinic, said that the disconnection incident was "a hidden trap... It is a life-threatening problem". Shane Eby of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada lost her aunt Linda on the day Rogers Telecom cut off the network. It is reported that Linda suddenly felt unwell due to the rupture of an aneurysm in the city center, and her relatives around her were disconnected from the Internet. Within 10 minutes, many people were unable to dial the 911 emergency call. Although the ambulance finally arrived, Linda regretted her death. Eby said that he never thought he would encounter difficulties in contacting the emergency service department. "The disconnection did not directly lead to the death of my aunt, but when such things happen, every minute is very important." The cost of network disconnection is huge The network outage not only has a serious impact on users, but also a painful experience for telecom enterprises themselves. On the one hand, the direct cost loss caused by network disconnection. Some media reported that according to KDDI's personal service regulations, if the communication service is "completely unavailable" for 24 hours or more, the user should be paid damages. The compensation may be determined by referring to the specific length of time that the user cannot use the mobile service due to communication failure. It is reported that operators can pay users in the form of points based on the average daily cost of users plus an apology fee of about 100 yen. It is expected that KDDI will provide compensation of up to 400 yen (about 20 yuan) for each user this time. However, due to the large number of people affected by the network outage and the need for additional compensation for the affected enterprises, some media predict that KDDI's total compensation this time will be at least 20billion yen (about 974 million yuan). On the other hand, if the network disconnection event is not handled properly, it will have a serious impact on the corporate image. After the network was disconnected, Rogers Telecom of Canada said that it would compensate each mobile phone user for the phone charges from July 8 to 9. According to the standard calculation of the first quarter of this year, industry insiders calculated that each user could be compensated 3.82 Canadian dollars (about 20 yuan). This statement triggered public anger. Some enterprises said that this compensation could not make up for the losses caused by network paralysis at all, but highlighted the attitude of Rogers Telecom to shirk responsibility. Dan Kelly, CEO of the Canadian Federation of independent enterprises, pointed out that after the outbreak of the COVID-19, cashless consumption prevailed, and many enterprises have designed various payment solutions. However, during the period of disconnection, online payment is generally paralyzed, so the loss of enterprises is not only the cost of Internet connection, but also the loss of sales. It is reported that Rogers Telecom has received a lawsuit triggered by the disconnection, accusing Rogers Telecom of violating the consumer protection law. How to minimize the impact of network disconnection The network outage incident once again highlighted the importance of system stability, and also triggered relevant thinking on maintaining the stability of the communication system and measures after the network outage. Find problems and take precautions. After the network outage, the emergency communication of the police, fire departments and other important services was cut off for a long time, and a large number of users were unable to communicate. At a time when society is highly dependent on digital means, the vulnerability of society is also highlighted. For this reason, Japan's general affairs minister, Kyoko Kyoko, strictly ordered KDDI to find out the reason for the disconnection, and more importantly, take measures to ensure that similar events do not occur again. At the same time, KDDI must share the exact reason for the problem with other operators to jointly prevent it from happening. The Ministry of general affairs said that it would explore the adoption of administrative guidance measures on the basis of a detailed examination of KDDI's response measures. But whether this measure will work is still in doubt. In October last year, after the NTT DoCoMo disconnection incident, the Ministry of general affairs of Japan classified it as a "serious incident" and continued to order inspections of Japanese operators to avoid similar incidents. However, the KDDI network disconnection event has not been avoided. Some insiders said that Japan's overall communication infrastructure is generally aging, and the whole industry should be thoroughly inspected to eliminate hidden dangers fundamentally. The Canadian radio, television and Telecommunications Commission also said it would investigate the Rogers telecommunications company's disconnection accident, and instructed the telecommunications companies to formulate a plan within 60 days to reduce the impact of future disconnection on consumers, and the next step is to introduce more rules that include consumer rights and interests. Promote competition and spread risks. Rogers Telecom of Canada has cut off its network twice in the past 15 months, causing public anger, and people have called on the government to expand competition in the telecommunications industry. Rogers is one of the largest communication companies in Canada. At present, together with Bell and TELUS, Rogers controls 90% of the Canadian telecommunications market, and its "volume" significantly exceeds the latter two, with more prominent advantages in Ontario and Quebec, the most populous provinces. The company has nearly 11.3 million mobile phone users and more than 2.6 million Internet users. It is also responsible for ensuring the Canadian debit network and the electronic remittance system interac, involving government agencies and many key systems that need network services. The outage intensified criticism of the company's dominant position in the industry, saying that the telecommunications industry needs more competition. Look for backup, double insurance. It is reported that after this large-scale network outage, some users have begun to consider backup network services. An electrical appliance chain with about 200 stores in Japan said that many users have come to consult about purchasing communication services from multiple operators. The mother of a 3-year-old child said that she was considering buying communication services from multiple operators because she learned that a friend of her couldn't get through the help phone because her child was ill. Although the cost of communication in Japan is not low, a large number of users said they would consider multi SIM card business. Canadian debit network and electronic remittance system interac officials said that after the disconnection of the network caused millions of people to be unable to pay online, they are
Edit：Li Jialang Responsible editor：Mu Mu
Source：gmw.cn
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