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Case Study: Disaster Recovery &

Business Continuity (Mobilink)



Submitted to: ABC

Submitted by: Qaim Din Mahar
0300-6714555
qaim_mahar@yahoo.com
facebook.com/qaim.mahar




Class: MBA II-(B)
Subject: Research Methods & Report Writing
Session: Spring 2011










Quaid-i-Azam School of Management Sciences.
Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad.



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Table of contents
Acknowledgement................................................................................................................ 01
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 02
Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................. 03
Introduction ................................................................................................. 03
Significance of Study ..................................................................................... 03
Rationale...................................................................................................... 04
Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................. 05
Literature Review ......................................................................................... 00
Business continuity planning ......................................................................... 05
Components of business Continuity planning ......................................................................... 08
Contingency planning ................................................................................... 08
Disaster recovery plan .................................................................................. 09
Recovery time and recovery point objectives in disaster recovery ................... 10
Insurance ..................................................................................................... 10
Disaster recovery plan for telecom systems.................................................... 11
Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................. 12
Methodology................................................................................................ 12
Research question ........................................................................................ 12
Case study approach ..................................................................................... 12
Selection of an organization .......................................................................... 12


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Technique used ............................................................................................ 13
Data collection source................................................................................... 13
Interviewer selection .................................................................................... 13
Interview Schedule ....................................................................................... 13
Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................. 14
Introduction of Organization ......................................................................... 14
Introduction of Mobilink ............................................................................... 14
Mobilink's Vision .......................................................................................... 15
Mobilinks Organizational Culture .................................................................. 15
Case study............................................................................................................................ 16
Overview ..................................................................................................... 16
An insight to Mobilink fire incident ................................................................ 16
Role of PTA in disaster recovery..................................................................... 18
Equipment Sensitivity ................................................................................... 18
Restoration of System ................................................................................... 19
Second Update ............................................................................................. 19
Service restoration ....................................................................................... 20
Mobilink to compensate its Customers .......................................................... 20
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.......................................................... 21
Users of Mobilink ......................................................................................... 22
Who Suffered More Loss ............................................................................... 22


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Chapter 5 ............................................................................................................................. 23
Analysis/ Results........................................................................................... 23
Chapter 6 ............................................................................................................................. 25
Discussion .................................................................................................... 25
Chapter 7 ............................................................................................................................. 28
Conclusion and suggestions........................................................................... 28
References ........................................................................................................................... 31
Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................. 34
Annexures





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Acknowledgement:
Apart from our efforts, the success of any project depends largely on the
encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express my
gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of this
project.
I would like to show our greatest appreciation to Dr. XYZ. I feel motivated and
encouraged every time I attended her meeting. Without her encouragement and
guidance this project would not have been materialized.
I am really thankful to Mr. ABC (Mobilink), Mr. XYZ (Mobilink), DEF (Ufone), Miss
ABC (Ufone), ABC (Mobilink), and ABCD (Mobilink) who are major source of
information and guidance for me.
The guidance and support received from all the members who contributed and who are
contributing to this project, was vital for the success of the project. I am grateful for
members constant support and help.
At the end I want to say thanks to whole staff and management of Mobilink for co-
operation and for providing me very useful and relevant information.



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Abstract:
Telecom infrastructure is assigned a special position in society because of its
important role in the everyday functioning. In addition to the direct effects of loss of
service, telecom failures cripple coordination capabilities, hindering rescue and
recovery operations. The importance of business continuity and disaster recovery plan
has grown considerably in the recent years, becoming a well-established practice to
achieve organizations resiliency. In a world where continuous operations are essential
for smooth business survival, action must be taken to ensure business continuity and
disaster recovery irrespective of any kind of disruptive event. Business continuity and
disaster recovery are a part of overall organizations risk management. This study
presents a case based upon business continuity and disaster recovery in telecom sector
and explains how organizations are effected by disasters and what steps and plans
organizations should made to cope up with such kind of disaster in future.


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Chapter 1
Introduction:
All organizations are susceptible to a non-zero risk of experiencing out-of-
course events, whether natural or man-made, that can lead to disasters with respect
to business operations. Disasters are unpredictable, sudden and cost a lot to the
business. Some of the costs of disasters include cash flow interruptions, loss of
competitive edge, loss of market share and customer confidence, erosion of business
image and legal/regulatory violation.
Business continuity & disaster recovery are a part of overall organizations risk
management. Business continuity relates to establishing the right process, procedures
and resources necessary to continue a business in an acceptable form when something
interrupt business. Therefore business recovery is an activity performed to ensure that
critical business functions must be available to customers, employees and regulators
(Devargas, 1999). It further implies that business should continue irrespective of any
kind of disruptive event. Whereas, Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity
plan which suggests that how an organization recover itself from a disaster. Heikkinen
and Sarkis state that It is the restoration of normal operating procedures after a
failure.
Significance of Study:
This research Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity aims to examine
what kind of relationship is there between disaster recovery and business continuity
with a particular focus on the organizations recovery and continuity of business after
the disaster. Due to disaster recovery plans (DRP) firms are able to recover much more
quickly than firms would be otherwise. Business Continuity Planning is also very
important as it focus on strategic management tool. This study will also help identify
that how an organization plans to recover from disaster and continue its business. As
disaster are occurring more frequently to entities so all the businesses are realizing the


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importance of these two very important concepts. This study will be focused on
preventive measures and strategic planning taken to ensure continuity. The Study will
further help to understand the organizations work plan and actions towards a disaster.
Rationale of study:
Disaster recovery and business continuity are parts of an organizations risk
management. The study on business continuity is frequently available but the impact of
disaster recovery and business continuity planning in telecom sector is not yet studied.
Especially study regarding recent disaster faced by a leading company is not yet
conducted. The logic or reason behind this research is to find out the true cause of
disaster and its impact on business. Another reason is to find out the true guidelines for
the organization to insure itself from any kind of disruptive event.


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Chapter 2
Literature Review:
Natural disasters like floods and earthquakes or accidents resulting from human
error or utility disruptions are all potential threats for interruptions in the continuous
business operations (Hassanain and Al-Mudhei, 2006). However, systems break down
and computer viruses like Trojan horse can also be act as disasters.
In the light of recent natural disasters; terrorism, and machinery breakdown,
organizations have realized the need to be prepared for coping with all the contingent
events (Botha and Solms, 2004). Pitt and Goyal, (2004) concluded that due to the ever
increasing rate of unforeseen crises within the business environment organization
should have a business continuity plan (BCP).
Business continuity planning:
Herbane, Elliott, and Swartz, (1997) identifies business continuity planning as a
new and evolving discipline. They believed that most organizations underestimate the
trauma associated with major crises. Therefore, any type of shut down can have a
devastating effect on continuity of business operations.
The numerous disasters suffered by corporations, institutions and other
organizations have shown us that planning for disaster recovery is simply not enough.
We must also plan for business resumption (Moore, 1995). Many organizations already
had business continuity plans and planning processes, while others began planning
after one or more of the disastrous events.
Fry and Diamond (2001) have described business survival requires every
business organization to plan for any kind of disruption including natural disasters;
hardware and communications failures; internal or external or acts of terrorism. Since
such disruptions cannot be predicted, they can have dangerous effects on the survival
of the business with results ranging from capital losses to customer dissatisfaction.


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Organizations now a day are competing on a global scale and therefore they are
allocating some part of their resources and budgets to ensure continuity in case of any
disruptive event.
According to Botha and Solms (2004), to completely define business continuity
one has to consider two aspects. First, it should be ensured that an organization
continue its business. Second, IT should be restored to a state similar to that preceding
the disaster.
According to Herbane, Elliott, and Swartz, (1997)
A suitable definition of BCP is planning that identifies the organizations
exposure to internal and external threats and synthesizes hard and soft assets to provide
effective prevention and recovery, while maintaining competitive advantage and value
system integrity.
A business continuity plan designed to be followed throughout the organization
is focused to mitigate risks that might cause: business process failure, asset loss,
regulatory liabilities, customer services failure, and damage to reputation. Risk
mitigation comes under the head of risk management. Risk management is the
identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and
economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the impact of
unfortunate events (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_management).
A Mckinsey survey, reported in Business Continuity Online, found that over
80% of investors would pay 18% more for shares in a well governed company and well
governed company is the one which has proper business continuity plan (Stanton,
2005).
Keeping in view the importance of BCP Botha and Solms (2004) have
identified seven phases of business continuity plan. According to them these phases
are:The project planning phase: This phase includes all those activities required to
ensure that the BCP project is properly planned.


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In second phase which is the business impact analysis (BIA) phase, critical
business processes are identified and then analyzed. Once the analysis is complete, the
impact that various disasters may have on business should become clear. The business
continuity strategies (BCS) phase entails the identification of various strategies that
focus on ensuring business continuity and recovery. It requires the review of the
various identified disaster scenarios to develop methods to deal with these situations
In continuity strategies implementation (CSI) phase detailed functional plans
are developed which indicates responses to the various scenarios. The fifth stage which
is the continuity training (CTR) phase, it is ensured that business continuity training
must form part of the organizations training framework. The training should be carried
out as soon as the plan is complete.
After CTR phase there should be continuity testing (CTE) phase which
determines that whether individual contingency plans are adequately written to ensure
continuity of business processes and the recovery of the data centre. Once all of the
above stages are properly planed then comes the continuity plan maintenance (CPM)
phase in which business continuity plan is reviewed regularly and updated if required.
This is done to ensure that the plan stays effective and up to date.
Paton, (1999) demonstrated that irrespective of the quality of the planning
process effectiveness of the plan is influenced by several other organizational
characteristics (e.g. management style and attitudes, reporting and decision procedures)
and bureaucratic flexibility. To provide continuous service, management systems will
be required which includes crisis management procedures, allocating response tasks,
roles and responsibilities, identifying and allocating immediate needed resources.
These systems will also be required to deal with delegation of authority, crisis
communication and decision making.
Stanton, (2005) stated, it can take less than 60 seconds for a companys
reputation to be ruined and its business to be crippled. In just one minute, shut down of
vital applications can lead to a catastrophic series of event, damaging companys


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reputation. Therefore, its not sufficient for organization to only have BCP, they must
also conduct BCP audit regularly.
According to Brown, There are no generally accepted principles with which
to analyze business continuity, any change that affects critical business functions
should trigger you to review your BCP.
Foster and Dye, (2005) stated that many companies had now recovery plans.
But the key concern is that they are either insufficient, or out of date, or both. With all
these changes, the concept of business continuity planning is being taken to a higher
level. It is more focused on reactive measures and not only on recovery strategies and
plans (Cerullo and Cerullo, 2004).
Components of business Continuity planning
According to Botha and Solms, (2004) two basic components of business
continuity are Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP).
Contingency planning:
The contingency planning aims at ensuring the continuity of all business
processes while information technology is recovering. Therefore, it mainly focuses on
the identification of procedures and steps the top management should take in order to
continue business process. In a paper that appeared in the February 2002 issue of
Strategy Business magazine, authors Ralph W. Shrader and Mike McConnell have
come up with a framework for chief executive officers (CEOs) to address the
challenges in case of disaster. In this, three primary goals of the CEO are defined as:
First secure the people of the enterprise, secondly secure the core business of the
enterprise (systems, facilities, infrastructure, and processes) and thirdly secure the
business networks (components of the business ecosystem, such as the supply chain).
One part of contingency planning is training of employees. Training includes
informing them about business process continuity and other issues regarding the


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contingency planning cycle. Training programs are designed to promote an adaptable
response capability. The most important thing in contingency planning is threat
analysis which consists of looking at potential risks and the probability of the threat.
Paton, (1999) have described that in an organizational prospective, several
groups including employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, distributors, family
members and community members are vulnerable. Therefore, each organization while
planning for contingent events also keep in mind its responsibility for the wellbeing
other than its employees. For example, businesses can connect with distributors or
other business that can ensure inexpensive delivery of products and services to
customers. In other words, plans are made on the basis of predetermined risks. These
fell into the categories of fire, natural disasters, and some form of infrastructure
breakdown including acts of terrorism and cybercrimes.
Disaster recovery plan:
Bryson, Millar, Joseph and Mobolurin, (2002) defines, disaster recovery plan
(DRP) or disaster recovery strategy (DRS) is a system for internal control that focuses
on quick restoration of service for crucial organizational processes when there are
service break downs due to natural or man-made disasters. A disaster recovery plan
aims to minimize any possible loss by identifying and protecting the key organizational
assets or those that are most valuable and that need the most protection.
Herbane, Elliott, and Swartz, (1997) are of the view that recovering from
disaster typically depends on the integrity of a firms physical systems, assets, and
processes during and after a crisis or disruption. It also includes planning that ensures
continuous business applications that can fix a broken business loop maintaining user
satisfaction, and juggling downtime
According to Paradine, (1995) When contingency plans are co-ordinated into a
single, integrated and workable plan of action, you have a disaster recovery plan.



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Bryson, Millar, Joseph and Mobolurin, (2002) demonstrated that various
increasing factors like government regulations in certain industries like banking, credit
unions, and in telecom sector, natural disasters (e.g. flood), and social disasters have
increased interests in the development, testing and maintenance of DRPs. Therefore
customer and vendor interests in disaster management have also increased.
Recovery time and recovery point objectives in disaster recovery:
Recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) are
perhaps the most important factors in designing a disaster recovery solution. An RTO
is the amount of time required to recover from a disastrous event, and an RPO is the
amount of data, measured in time, that you can lose from that same event
(http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com).
Or it can be defined as a measure of the maximum time period in which data
might be lost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovery_point_objective). Once the RTO
and RPO has been defined, business continuity planners can decide which disaster
recovery technologies are best suited to the situation which includes online backups
and off-site vaulting of information? For example, if the RTO for a given application is
one hour, data backup on external hard drives may be the best solution. If the RTO is
five days, then tape, compact disk, or offsite disk storage may be more cost-effective.
Insurance: a vital ingredient in disaster recovery
Many business organizations do not have adequate financial resources to meet
the post disaster needs. Therefore, every business entity must plan in advance in order
to make better decisions and analyze critical financial needs in case of any kind of
disruptive event. This can be done by purchasing a commercial insurance (Reiss).
Insurance can play it part once a loss has occurred, and helps to pay for some of the
costs incurred in the loss incident. Insurance on its own does nothing to prevent losses,
it only protects from the financial consequences of loss (Pradine, 1994).


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Disaster recovery plan for telecom systems:
The breakdown of essential communication is also one of the characteristic of
disaster. (Townsend & Moss, 2005). Telephone system is considered as the most
complicated machine ever designed by human being and is highly vulnerable to
physical disruption such as fire or earthquake (Piece and Noll, 1990). Physical
disruption or loss of supporting infrastructure cause communication failure. Another
major reason for telecommunication failure is network congestion or data overload.
Due to ever increasing need of communication to co-ordinate the activities,
exchange information and ideas and to know the response of people,
telecommunication traffic occurs resulting in clogging of well managed networks
(Townsend & Moss, 2005). Whenever such kind of disasters occurs there is always
some regulatory authority. Since this communication channel is also not immune to
disruptions thats why whenever any type of disaster occur there is a regulatory body in
order to govern the recovery process. In Pakistan this authority is PTA.


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Chapter 3
Methodology:
Methodology that has been used for information gathering and research work is
described below.
Research Question:
How telecom sector can survive in disaster and ensure smooth business continuity?
Case study approach:
Qualitative Research is ideal for earlier phases of research projects. A disaster
has been recently faced by a telecom sector organization but no study has been made to
find out the reasons of that disaster. Therefore, in order to find out the true reasons of
the disaster company has to work with a probing mind using the in-depth information
and analysis, for which case study is best suited. It should be mentioned here that case
study does not provide the solution but case study explains, diagnoses or proposes the
possible outcomes of the topic under consideration. A case study also aims to provide a
complete, detailed description of the research topic. This can be better attained through
case study analysis.
Selection of an organization:
Communication is very important these days and the breakdown of essential
communication is also one of the characteristics of disaster. The most complicated
machine ever constructed by human beings for communication is the telephone system.
It has been highly vulnerable to physical destruction during disaster.
The study on business continuity is frequently available but the impact of
disaster recovery and business continuity planning in telecom sector is not yet studied.


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Especially study regarding recent disaster faced by a leading company is not yet
conducted. Thats why organization from telecom sector is selected.
Technique used:
Qualitative research generates non-numerical data and case study is one of the
methods of qualitative research. Qualitative research is not sampling research, which is
a fact asserted by all the major researchers in the field, including Yin, Stake, Feagin
and others. It rather focuses on gathering of mainly verbal data than measurements.
Gathered information is then analyzed in an interpretative manner, subjective,
impressionistic or even diagnostic. Since, the objective is to achieve the greatest
possible information on a given problem therefore, in such cases information oriented
selection is done.
Data collection source:
Information is gathered through interviews. In interviews open ended question
has been asked.
Interviewer selection:
With the help of our coordinator Dr. XYZ, Mr. XYZ and our personal links we
were able to meet with concern persons from which interviews were conducted about
the recent disaster in Mobilink. With the help of these interviews we were able to
understand the true cause of Mobilink disaster.
Interview Schedule:
Interviews were conducted in accordance to the feasibility and availability of
the interviewees. Appointment was taken for a meeting and the time of interview was
decided by the interviewees themselves.


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Chapter 4
Introduction of Organization:
Orascom Telecom:
Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. ("Orascom Telecom") or ("OTH") was
established in 1998 and has grown to become a major player in the telecommunication
market. Orascom Telecom Holding is considered amongst the largest and most
diversified network operators in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, and has
acquired in early 2008 a license to operate mobile services in North Korea. Orascom
Telecom is a leading mobile telecommunications company operating in six emerging
markets having a population under license of 430 million with an average penetration
of mobile telephony across all markets of approximately 40%.
In Pakistan, the Pakistan Mobile communications Ltd (Mobilink) started
operations in 1994 and in 2010, had a market share of 32.5%. In April 2001, OTH took
over management control of the company. As the market leader, Mobilink serves more
than 31.6 million subscribers, representing a market share of 32.5% (as of March
2010). (Exhibit 1)
Introduction of Mobilink:
Mobilink, a subsidiary of the Orascom Telecom Holding, is Pakistans leading
cellular and Blackberry service provider. With more than 31.6 million subscribers,
Mobilink maintains market leadership through cutting-edge, integrated technology, the
strongest brands and the largest portfolio of value added services in the industry, a
broadband carrier division providing next generation internet technology as well as the
countrys largest voice and data network with over 8,000 cell sites. Housing Pakistans
largest distribution and contact center networks and an unparalleled 6,500 kilometers
fiber optic backbone, Mobilink (http://www.mobilinkgsm.com) has already invested
over US $3.3 billion in the country to date and provides uninterrupted countrywide


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connectivity, unmatched customer services and international roaming in over 140
countries. The company is also the official cellular partner of the Pakistan Cricket
Board. As a responsible corporate citizen, Mobilink also offers a range of socially
inclusive products and services dedicated to enhance access to information. Through
Mobilink Foundation, the company supports education, health and environmental
initiatives and promotes sustainable business practices.
During the last 15 years, Mobilink has set up one of the largest cellular
networks in the country. Currently, Mobilink is covering more than 10,000+ cities and
towns. This has involved an investment in the company of more than US$ 3.3 Billion.
Mobilink has 66 Switches and more than 8,000 cell sites and the number keeps
growing at a rapid pace. Mobilink also has deployed around 6,500 km of optical cable
(http://www.mobilinkgsm.com).
Mobilink's Vision:
"To be the leading Telecommunication Services Provider in Pakistan by
offering innovative Communication solutions for our Customers while exceeding
Shareholder value & Employee Expectations".
Mobilinks Organizational Culture:
Mobilink's corporate values serve as the foundation for its culture, behavioral
norms, and decision making. These values have always been at the heart of our
business principles and success. Each of our values guides the way we work as an
organization and ensures that we not only meet the needs of our employees and
stakeholders today, but work towards sustaining and enhancing human and financial
capital for the future.
These values sum up the culture at Mobilink, and aim to ensure a workplace
that necessitates open and respectful communication and exceptional quality of service
to internal and external stakeholders.


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Case study:
Overview:
Unforeseen events are an unfortunate by-product of the corporate environment,
especially in the technology sector. In areas that are furnished with wires, electric
gadgets, batteries and loads of other inflammable goods, the smallest of issues can end
up causing significant headaches for the entire company as well as its consumers. For
Mobilink, this year has seen these events become a bit too regular. The fire at Beverly
Centre in Islamabad was followed by a fire at a technical facility in Karachi, and then
the event of 6th March 2011 at I-10 Islamabad, destroying integral parts of MSC.
An insight to Mobilink fire incident:
Vendors indoor services at Mobilink are: Installation of radio base station
(RBS), Installation of TX rack, Installation & commissioning of TX equipment, Fixing
of cable tray, Grounding of equipment and Installation of rectifier and battery bank.
During the Installation of battery bank in the companys battery room located at its
MSC (Mobile Switching Center), Sector I-10/3, Islamabad, one of the batteries fell
down and exploded. For those who dont know, MSCs are exchanges that make the
connection between mobile users in a network, through BSCs which transfers mobile
calls to BTS and BTS finally transfer calls to cell phone, the result from any damage to
MSCs infrastructure or system would have effects for the entire base it supported.
This phenomenon is clearly explained in Exhibit 2.
Due to that battery explosion fire broke out in power room and damaged major
portion of power room. Due to early containment, telecom equipment, power supply
cables (ceiling & underground), cooling system and building was damaged. Some parts
of machinery were also burned. The staff on duty immediately switched off the Mobile
Switching Center (MSC) to avoid further damage due to which North region went
down, causing zero signals in areas from Peshawar to Islamabad and the surrounding.


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Mobilink also owns LinkDotNet, which is an ISP, as Mobilink shares its
infrastructure between ISP and its cell phone operator setup wherever possible. Along
with the cellular service, DSL services by Link DOT Net also got affected as the
company is reliant on the Mobilink backbone for its products. However, as the MSC
was a vital component for cross-country connectivity, the loss of service is extended to
other regions, with subscribers suffering as far as Karachi. Mobilink and LinkDotNet
services gone down about after noon Sunday and for some areas services were
available back about afternoon Monday.
Since the leading company was facing the burning situation, rumors were
spread like flames in the forest. Customers were facing problems and these problems
increases the level of dissatisfaction in the air. Therefore, after some hours of fire
eruption Mobilink releases a press update:
Dear customers, we have encountered an unexpected situation in the past few
hours. Our team is trying to recover as soon as possible. We apologize for the
inconvenience caused, primarily in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Said Omar Manzur,
Director Public Relations, Mobilink.
At that time most of Mobilink customers were not receiving signals, while
when Mobilink numbers were dialed, system says that dialed cell number is switched
off. Customers were receiving Invalid SIM, No SIM Card, or similar issues on
customers cell phones.
Mobilink technical staff restricted the area where fire broke out; meanwhile
staff called the fire brigade. Mobilink staff tried to overcome the fire by fire
extinguishers, but were unable to do so. Finally fire brigade reached to overcome the
fire in 3 to 4 hours. When the MSC was shut down Mobilink shifts the voice calls/SMS
of that MSC to other MSCs. Due to this shifting other regions also faces no
connectivity or low signal bars on customers handsets.


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As fire broke out on Sunday so no human loss was made as most of the
employees were not at that place. Important thing to be noted here is that the
communication among the top level management, technical staff and lower level
management was zero because all employees have Mobilink connections which
werent working due to shut down of the service. To cope up with this problem
Mobilink immediately bought some PTCL V wireless phones and PTCL Evo for
internet connection. Mobilink requested the Ufone to provide MNP (Mobile Number
Portability which enables mobile telephone users to retain mobile telephone numbers
when changing from one mobile network operator to another) for some top level
management.
Role of PTA in disaster recovery:
PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) was informed about this incident
as disaster occurred, by Mobilinks public relation officers. Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA) took prompt action on the matter. PTA teams
reached the scene and monitored the whole restoration activity immediately after the
occurrence of the incident. A Committee headed by Member (Technical) PTA, Dr.
Khawar Siddique Khokhar with members DG (Enforcement) PTA, DG (Licensing) and
DG (Law) visited Mobilinks premises in I-10/3 examined the situation at scene.
Equipment Sensitivity:
Like any other computer or sensitive electronic equipment, telecommunications
electronics are susceptible to damage from heat, electrical disturbances, moisture, and
direct physical damage. The equipment installed in place where fire broke out, consists
of complex assemblies of semiconducting, conducting, and non-conducting materials.
This equipment was intended to perform functions within these assemblies only so
long as company do not suffer physical or chemical degradation. Therefore, when fire
broke out the temperature rose to an immense level. The rule of thumb is that for every
10 degrees Celsius of rise in temperature ,the speed of all chemical reactions doubles.(
Heat and Power Problems are the Greatest Risks To Telecom Equipment By Robert


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Weir,) That rule also applies to the chemical reactions involved in the degradation of
electronics and to every other substance. Realizing the importance and sensitivity of
the equipment, the first thing done after taking control of the fire was the cooling
because extended temperature is an enemy to the equipment.
Restoration of System:
Firstly Mobilink made teams and different tasks were assigned to the teams.
After controlling the fire, process of restoration was started. The technical team came
to the sight and team thoroughly analyze the electrical equipment and machinery and
separated the burned equipment and tools. Cleaning process was started in battery
room where incident was happened. Electrical team was assigned to restore power
supply cables which were partially destroyed and were unable to work properly. The
main challenge of electrical team was to maintain the required temperature by the
machinery. So the team worked really hard to bring the temperature at required level.
The technical team which includes special engineers sorts out the burned racks
of electrical circuits, cards and equipment. The technical team thoroughly analyzes the
electrical equipment and machinery and separated the burned equipment and tools.
Mobilink has its own warehouse where company holds spare parts and extra machinery
equipment. The team started to change the damaged machinery and parts with the new
machinery- and equipment. Engineers also start to make connection between spare
parts and machinery. It must be mentioned here that all MSCs, Offices, and other
telecom buildings are always insured.
Second Update:
Update from Mobilink authority: Partial connectivity was restored in the early
hours of the morning and our technical teams continue to work around the clock to
ensure that all equipment is fully restored at the earliest, said Omar Manzur, Director
Public Relations, Mobilink. The whole network was fully restored in almost 32 hours.


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Good news was, Mobilink and PTA both worked hard during the Sunday to put
back the network online and Mobilink have successfully made network back online
within a day. Yes, partially the network is back which includes mobile service and the
Internet service (of link dot net) as well. This outage is Pakistans every worst telecom
outage which rolled out the whole nation and the users got confused what to do. The
businessmen were affected the most who also work on Sundays.
Service restoration:
Following is a screen shot of the note on Mobilink website.






Mobilink to compensate its Customers:
Mobilink has decided to reward its customers by offering free minutes and
SMSs who had remained loyal at the when service was down due to fire incidence at
one of its facilities in Islamabad, few months back. With a view to thank its customers
for patience and loyalty, Mobilink has announced a phased plan for customers who
experienced disruption in service. This is the first time a reward of this scale has been
announced and awarded by any telecom operator in the country for disruption caused
by a force majeure event.
Sharing his views, Mobilink President & CEO Rashid Khan shared that while it
was difficult to make up for the missed experience, the company cherishes customers


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who continue to prefer Mobilink and this is a humble gesture of goodwill by the
company for patience and loyalty. Customers were updated of the incident and
restoration via press announcements by the company at the time. To facilitate
customers who were directly affected by the incident, the company has announced free
minutes and SMS for prepaid customers whereas postpaid customers will receive an
adjustment against monthly bill.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA):
If any telecom company faces a disaster or its network or services went down
then PTA has directions to the company to recover the service within 72 hours. If any
company fails to restore its services then PTA can make fine or have choice to cancel
the license. The company must inform the PTA if any kind of disaster occurred to the
company and PTA will guide the company and also monitor the company during the
recovery from that disaster. In case of disaster a company should stay in touch with
customer through internet and inform the customers about the reason behind the
network outage.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced an investigation of
the issue from all technical and legal aspects in order to prevent such incidents in the
future and compensate the losses of the operator and subscribers. Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority has formed a Committee headed by Member (Technical)
PTA, Dr. Khawar Siddique Khokhar to analyze situation that arose after Mobilinks
outage. This was mentioned in a statement issued by the authority.
It was mentioned that DG (Enforcement), DG (Licensing) and DG (Law) at
PTA are also part of this committee that is likely to prepare a report based on facts
gathered during committees visit to Mobilinks office to formulate a way for better
crisis management in case any such event happen in future. Mobilinks in-house
investigation on incident will also be made part of this report. The Committee is
deliberating further action on the issue from all technical and legal aspects and how
such incidents can be prevented in future, said the statement. PTA top priority was to


26
monitor the situation and keep an eye on the network restoration efforts of the
Mobilink, an official said and added the authority wants to service accessibility to its
mobile phone users. After this incident, and other relating fire eruptions in past.
Users of Mobilink:
Mobilink have a family of more than 32.203 million customers. More than 10
million people are believed to be affected due to dropping or missing signals. Since
Prime Minister Gilani uses the market leader companys connection on his personal
cell-phone, the service collapse forced him to issue instructions to the Ministry of
Information Technology and Telecom to get the service restored at the earliest.
Following the instructions of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Information Technology
took notice and ensured to restore Mobilink network as early as possible, stated a press
release of the PM Secretariat.
Who Suffered More Loss?
Though disaster wasnt a deliberate incident but still should be inquired
properly and thoroughly so that these kind of incidents can be avoided in future.
Moreover there should be some backup plan so that if any untoward incident occurs
then customers dont suffer much.
While the company also suffered loss of millions of rupees in terms of
infrastructure and revenue but Mobilink can surely overcome it with in few days as all
of Mobilink equipment is insured. The customers were more at loss as throughout the
Sunday customers were unable to make calls, use internet and send SMSes. As Sunday
is the day for recreation and talking to loved ones but Mobilink subscribers were
unable to avail this facility for almost of Sunday and half of Monday. Thousands of
calls are made daily and millions of SMSes are exchanged but company deprived
customers from this right on Sunday.


27
Chapter 5
Analysis/ Results:
It becomes clear from the incident that one of the leading cell phone operator
which claims to have over 30 million subscribers does not have an effective disaster
management plan and a simple fire can take services down for long hours for several
hundreds of thousands of customers. Sunday is the day for recreation and talking to
loved ones but Mobilink subscribers were unable to avail this facility for almost of
Sunday and half of Monday. Thousands of calls are made daily and millions of SMSes
are exchanged but company deprived customers from this right on Sunday. So, special
care should be taken that no interruption in services on Sundays.
The company should make separate offices for vendors to meet. Had company
met the vendor in separate room for purchasing of batteries, this incident would not
happen. Accidents do happen but up to what extent an organization is prepared to
handle a potential catastrophe is important for businesses in this rapidly changing
market. It is also notable that since Prime Minister Gilani uses the market leader
companys connection on his personal cell-phone, the service collapse forced him to
issue instructions to the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom to get the
service restored at the earliest.
It was long about 30 hour interruption in services. This is however surprising
that leading cell phone operator which claims to have over 30 million subscribers does
not have an effective disaster management plan. Hope Mobilink must have learned
much from these few experiences and will have some better disaster management plan
in the future. Mobilink must also consider making service provision a fail-safe.
Accidents do happen but its important that how much someone or some
organization is prepared to handle a potential catastrophic it is real important for
businesses in this rapidly changing market, especially for organization which charges
customers more because of good quality of services and organizations entire


28
customers are with the organization only due to good quality and uninterrupted
services. Problem indeed affected and upset masses over country but good news is that
all over the country problems are solved. Mobilink has also issued a note about recent
interruption of services on Mobilink website which claims that all problems have been
resolved.
This incident contributes in a major change in PTAs regulations, i-e making it
necessary for all operators to maintain backups of all core-infrastructure equipment,
also termed as disaster recovery setup. Moreover there should be some backup plan
so that if any unwanted incident occurs then customers dont suffer much. It becomes
clear from the incident that how a disaster can change the brighter side of companys
slogan into dark side (as in this case jaz apna ha changed into jaz sapna ha).
Mobilink made a good example of customer care by providing free minutes and SMS
to its customers due to inconvenience faced by customers. During visits it has been
identified that data backups have been maintained on daily basis.
Anti-spam firewalls/filters are also been installed in the vicinity to avoid
garbage SMSes. Fuel power backups are also been maintained for MSCs, BSCs and
power generators. Cloud based management system is also used to recover from any
kind of disruption. In this process, data is accessed virtually to speed up the recovery
process. During special events or festivals, there are chances of network congestion
which might be the cause of service interruption, a clear case of disaster for telecom, is
managed effectively by proper recovery plans. If plan A fails due to any reason then
company also have a plan B, which indicates the internal strength of the company.
In Mobilink Both equipment and infrastructure elements are usually installed in
substantial buildings having extensive physical security and fire resistant construction.
Such a structure forms the base of the key operation taking place in the industry.
Mobilink often tend to take buildings for granted, but Mobilink deserve some special
respect in this case because of the protection and support Mobilink provide to the
equipment when the fire broke out.


29
Chapter 6
Discussion:
The disasters in telecom sector are common. In every telecom organization
disasters of different kinds happened. The fire disaster in Mobilink has put questions
on the contingency planning and disaster recovery planning of a firm. The telecom
organization needs disaster recovery plans and should follow some steps to recover
from disaster.
If any telecom companys service went offline then PTA has directions to the
company to recover the service within 72 hrs. The company must inform the PTA if
any kind of disaster occurred to the company and PTA will guide the company and also
monitor the company during recovery from that disaster. The company should also stay
in touch with customer through internet in case of disaster.
Mobilink didnt communicate early to its customers that some problem has
occurred and service will be restored as early as possible. Mobilink communicated this
news through internet after 7 hours of network goes offline. Due to that customers were
unaware that what happened to the network and when the network will be restored.
In December 2010 Ufone services went down and there was no announcement
as such on internet websites like Facebook or Twitter page. Fans got crazy angry and
left annoyed comments as to why nobody is telling the customers when the services
will be restored. Obviously, the issue in the social media was not handled properly and
that led to many fans of Ufone unsatisfied and angry. All this ended up real bad when
Ufone started restricting its fans to comment on that page. However, whats done is
done but lets think over what telecom company could have done in this situation.
This is the first thing a company like Ufone or Mobilink should have done in
case of disaster; effected company should have updated companys Facebook and
Twitter page status right away announcing;


30
Dear customers, we are experiencing service outage due to some technical
problems which are being resolved and the service will be restored in 3 hours (lets
suppose). Sorry for the inconvenience but well let you know as soon as were back
on!
With this act, company would have bought customers trust and even sympathy
and everyone would have known by default that there is a problem going on which will
soon be resolved. The second thing to do is keep monitoring what people are saying. If
someone is really agitated, try to calm that person down by replying to comments in an
apologetic and empathetic tone. Such acts make that person feel company has not left
that person in the middle of a desert with no help. This behavior makes the customers
feel company cares and is doing whatever it can to bring the services back to order for
the customers.
Last, when the services are restored, be the first ones to let the fans know that
services are back with a bang! Be cheerful, be happy and be caring. Let the customers
know how much it means for the company that customers have been patient and
cooperative. That is how company actually and successfully make use of social
networks in difficult times. As any information like in this case cant remain hidden in
the world of internet for too long! Truth comes out one day or the other so instead of
hiding flaws, be big enough to step forward, admit the problem, give the solution and
win the trust of the customers because if a company wont say it, that company will
definitely hear it from customers.
For any telecom organization, formulating disaster recovery plans or business
continuity plans for this kind of disaster are very difficult. Mobilink or any other
telecom company has the recovery plans for virtual disaster like burden on different
MScs, low signal bars, difficulty in making calls or data lost. Telecom companies
followed certain steps in these virtual disasters or problems and these companies are
quite certain in following these steps. But planning for physical disaster or fire eruption
can be done to some extent but not completely. Reason is that a company cannot
predict that what kind of disaster will occur and what would be the intensity of that


31
disaster. Physical disaster occurs in no time and a company cannot predict disaster. So
a company should keep itself prepared all the time. Like if fire broke out company will
switch down the machinery then try to overcome the fire. Then estimate the loss and
install new machinery and equipment and restore the system. This will be the process
companies normally follow in a fire disaster. Spare part of machinery will be setup at
alternate locations in case of machinery loss in a disaster. The Lahore-based Ufone is
expected to provide the foundation of a virtualized disaster recovery infrastructure.
The company is evaluating using VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager to
automate virtual machine recovery at the secondary site should the primary datacenter
experience a major outage. Company has targeted a range of business-critical
applications and systemsincluding customer relationship management, billing,
inventory, retail management, email and other line-of-business applicationsfor full
disaster recovery. These will be run in a fleet of more than 100 virtual machines at the
disaster recovery site.
In Pakistan, Ufone have strict regulations governing disaster recovery of all
critical line-of-business applications, VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager will
help Ufone to accelerate compliance with disaster recovery policies applied by
regulatory authorities.
Recovery plan includes setting up machines at alternate locations; however,
backing up data will be most crucial part. Freeing up resources such as less-critical
tasks or internal monitoring is also being rolled out. Mobilink should also make these
kinds of recovery plans to ensure the business continuity after a disaster.


32
Chapter 7
Conclusion:
From this case study we can easily conclude that every organization in telecom
sector needs a disaster recovery plan. Through this plan a company can recover itself
from disaster more quickly and can avoid a big loss. Mobilink or any other telecom
company has the recovery plans for virtual disasters but Physical disaster occurs in no
time and a company cannot predict disasters. So a definite disaster recovery plan is
always lacking in a telecom sector organization. The prediction cannot be made about
the physical disasters. Even if a company knows the type of disaster but it cannot
predict the intensity and maybe the location of that disaster is changed from the first
one so as a result companys whole plan or setting will be different because now the
entire situation is different. Everything changes from situation to situation. So some
steps can be followed by a company in one type of disaster but formulating a complete
disaster plan is very difficult for a physical disaster.
Suggestions:
The mission of a telecommunications company, whether company is a traditional
regional operating company, a long-distance provider, a wireless service, or a
broadband company offering bundled TV, internet and phone is to provide customers
with round-the-clock, uninterrupted service. A fire in any critical telecom facility
whether an MSC, central office, a satellite transmission station, or a cable head-end
can knock out vital communication links for thousands of customers at once. And
providing customers with service that customers can depend on whether it is TV sports
programming, a business's phone service, or service for 911 uninterrupted services are
critical to companys business mission, and vital to the continued productivity and
profitability of a company.


33
All ICT rooms must be equipped with smoke detectors connected to automatic
addressable fire alarm systems to enable the registration of smoke
generation/fire and alarm activation.
The early detection principle is based on the earliest possible notification of
the outbreak of a fire so that personnel are given sufficient time to intervene
before the outbreak develops into a major fire loss. Early detection imposes
certain requirements on the selection of fire detector systems. Moreover, it is
essential that the detectors used in such systems are more sensitive than standard
optical/ionization point detectors.
Systems and procedures for fire detection, alarms and extinguishing must
comply with all requirements and directives stipulated by local and/or national
fire authorities and, if relevant, insurance companies.
All institutions must prepare written fire protection regulations which, in
addition to including personnel safety and loss reduction measures, shall also
incorporate measures aimed at mitigating damage to computer equipment and
data loss.
Measures such as backup systems, mirror servers etc., are effective in mitigating
consequential damage and reducing vulnerability in the event of fire.
Good fire hygiene procedures such as cleaning, tidiness, the replacement of
filters, the removal of packaging, the disconnection and removal of equipment
that is not in use, etc., all represent important fire prevention measures.
It is essential that operating electronics be maintained at an ambient temperature
consistent with reliable operation and satisfactory equipment life. As long as
power is supplied to the electronics, sufficient cooling must also be available.
Extended temperature is an enemy to the equipment. Therefore, heating,
ventilation and air conditioning which are vital to overall function must be
properly managed.
High Sensitivity Smoke Detection Systems can provide the earliest possible
warning in a potential fire situation.


34
Mobilink and Equipment Suppliers should perform a risk assessment of all
systems and classify suppliers by the value these suppliers have to the company
and the impact to the company if suppliers are compromised or lost. Based on
the risk assessment, develop a security policy which recommends and assigns
then appropriate controls to protect the system.
Network operators, service providers and equipment uppliers should ensure to
conduct organization wide security awareness training, training on technical
products and controls.
When a Business Recovery Plan (BRP) does not exist, Network Operators and
Service Providers should bring together an adhoc team to address the current
incident. The team should have technical, operations, legal, and public relations
representation. Team should be sponsored by senior management and have a
direct communication path back to management sponsor. If situation exceeds
internal capabilities consider contracting response/recovery options to 3rd party
security provider.
Redundant security measures should be implemented by both operators and
vendors to ensure maximum safety at telecom sites. Enough operations and
maintenance teams should be available to perform preventive maintenance apart
from corrective measures.


35
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Acronyms and Abbreviations:

Business Continuity Plan BCP
Business Continuity Strategies BCS
Business Impact Analysis BIA
Base Station Controller BSC
Chief Executive Officer CEO
Chief Executive Officers CEOs
Continuity Plan Maintenance CPM
Continuity Strategies Implementation CSI
Continuity Testing CTE
Continuity Training CTR
Disaster Recovery Plans DRP
Digital Subscriber Line DSL
Internet Service Provider ISP
Mobile Number Portability MNP
Mobile Switching Center MSC
Orascom Telecom Holding OTH
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority PTA
Pakistan Telecommunication Limited PTCL
Radio Base Station RBS
Recovery Point Objectives RPOs
Recovery Time Objectives RTOs
Subscriber Identity Module SIM
Short Message Service SMS
Television TV
Transcoder TC



39


40







Annexures


41


Exhibit 1
Exhibit 2


42



















43











Source: PTA Annual Report


44










Financial data of Mobilink: Source (Orascom Annual Report 2010)