Our government and the media already communicated about the possible power shortage in the next coming months. It is possible that rotational electrical power cuts will be executed in order to avoid a general power outage at any time.
These power cuts will be executed in phases, per areas, presumably during peak hours (between 17h and 20h).

Meanwhile, the government launched the campaign “Off/On” with the aim to provide as much useful information as possible and to answer the many questions you are facing: www.offon.be

You can visit following pages as well:
http://economie.fgov.be/nl/elektriciteitsschaarste
http://economie.fgov.be/fr/penurie_electricite

Will there be a power cut for my area?

The edpnet colocation is not included in a region for a possible power cut. Moreover our colocation is equipped with a UPS system and a backup power supply.  Edpnet will still be reachable by phone as well.

You can check whether your street is included or not on following sites:
– http://economie.fgov.be/nl/elektriciteitsschaarste/afschakelplan/kaarten
– http://economie.fgov.be/fr/penurie_electricite/plan-delestage/cartes
You can also register on http://be-alert.be (address, two phone numbers, two e-mail addresses) and you will be notified 24 hours in advance via text message and email if there will be a power cut. This is a service offered by the federal government.

Will everything still work?

First and foremost, if the power is interrupted locally and you do not have a back-up power supply, your edpnet services are interrupted immediately. Your modem/router will go offline.

Devices with batteries, e.g. mobile phones or portable phones will function until the battery is empty. Provided that the underlying service remains operational.
An overview:

Internet

• ADSL/VDSL
• Edpnet Site: No interruption
• Supplier Site: Possible interruption for DSL lines connected to street cabinets without a back-up power system
• SDSL/Fiber/EFM/MPLS/DWDM
• Edpnet Site: No interruption
• Supplier Site: No interruption

Telephony

• edpnet Telephony (VOIP/SIP trunk/VPBX)
• Edpnet Site: No interruption
• Supplier Site: No interruption
• edpnet mobile
• Edpnet Site: No interruption
• Supplier Site: No interruption for 2h (estimated antenna battery life)
  Please text instead of calling

Will my internet connection still work?

Both edpnet’s and its supplier network infrastructure will remain operational for 4 hours for DSL lines. However, lines (typically VDSL lines) connected to street cabinets (these units are not equipped with a back-up power supply) will go offline.  But at the same time, your local power supply will be interrupted and your modem / router will go offline.

If you have a back-up power supply yourself, you will not go offline unless the street cabinet to which your DSL line is connected does not have its own back-up power supply.

Will my edpnet telephony subscription (internet telephony) still work?

As long as your appliances have power and your internet connection is online, your telephony service will work.

Will my edpnet mobile subscription (mobile phones) still work?

The antennas in your area are equipped with batteries which are able to cope with a two-hour power cut. We strongly advise you to use text messages instead of calling. Do not forget that data drains your battery very quickly. Charge your mobile phone in time if you know that there will be a power cut.

An important tip

Once power has returned, please do not restart all your appliances at once in order to avoid new disruptions on the mains network. We recommend you to switch off all your appliances and to pull the plug(s) if you are informed that the power will be cut. This minimizes the risk that they might be damaged when the power to your home is actually shut down.

Edpnet can cope with normal power restrictions and power failures when it comes to keeping its network equipment operational. The accuracy and completeness of the measures taken cannot be guaranteed in the exceptional situation of a national power outage plan and the related general local power cut-offs. Both the power outage plan as the activation process are government decisions. As stated in our General Terms and Conditions, edpnet is not liable for the unavailability of any edpnet service due to circumstances beyond edpnet’s control. Therefore edpnet cannot be held liable for any consequences or damages resulting from this outage.

Because of a change on our core infrastructure, customers without a fixed IP may have had issues with their connection. Rebooting the modem solved the issue. Professional customers with a fixed IP did not have any impact.