Last week, Telia's network was down for two entire days in a village outside Sorsele. During this time, a man who tried to contact healthcare was unable to do so.
The man sought help in the local store where the rescue service had established an emergency phone. When the ambulance helicopter later arrived on the scene, a doctor confirmed that the man had passed away.
The mobile network outage was caused by a fiber cable that was accidentally cut. This resulted in Telia customers being unable to make calls, reports Sveriges Radio.
– We take this very seriously, says Jan Ask, acting municipal manager in Sorsele municipality, to Sveriges Radio.
– In the summer, there are a lot of people there who are hiking. Being able to call for help is extremely important.
The municipality told Sveriges Radio that they cannot guarantee the same thing won't happen again, but it is their duty to do everything possible to ensure that the entire municipality has access to a robust, stable, and secure mobile network.
Following the mobile network outage, the municipality will now hold a meeting with Telia to ensure the future security of the mobile network.