Communications outage and domestic roaming in a crisis situation

A communications outage can be caused, for instance, by a power outage or an extensive cyber-attack.

During an emergency or war situation, the state may activate domestic roaming, which means that you can also use the mobile networks of operators other than the one whose customer you are. The service quality may fluctuate during roaming but is sufficient for getting information.

Instructions for a communications outage

How to prepare for a communications outage?

  • Write down important phone numbers.
  • Obtain a radio that does not operate on electricity.
  • Keep some cash at home.
  • Know where to find help in an emergency (the nearest resilience centre, rescue centre etc.)
  • Agree on a meeting point with your family in case you cannot reach each other.

You can find more specific instructions from the web page olevalmis.ee: https://www.olevalmis.ee/en/communication-outage#how-to-prepare-for-a-communication-outage 

What to do if communications are lost?

  • Turn off the functions that drain your smart device’s battery (Wi-Fi, mobile internet, Bluetooth etc.).
  • Listen to the hourly news from the radio. You can also listen to the radio in a car. Information can also be obtained from the nearest resilience centre, rescue centre or police station.
  • Consider that card payments and electronic identification (Mobile- and Smart-ID) could be disrupted.
  • If signal is low or there is no signal, go outside and try to find a higher spot.

For more specific information, read the olevalmis.ee web page: https://www.olevalmis.ee/en/communication-outage#what-to-do-if-communication-is-lost 

You can call the emergency number 112 even if there is no signal

For this you have to make your SIM-card inactive:

  • if you have a button phone, remove the SIM-card and call 112;
  • if you have a smartphone, restart it, do not enter the PIN-code of the SIM-card, and call 112;
  • on newer phones, hold down the power button to call 112.

After you have made your emergency call, activate the SIM-card so that the emergency operator could call you back if necessary/possible.

Domestic roaming

During an emergency or war situation, the state may activate domestic roaming, which would allow the use of the mobile networks of other operators. The quality of service may vary but is sufficient for getting information (sending messages, reading the news). The activation of roaming will be announced publicly.

After the activation of domestic roaming, it might be necessary to manually select another operator’s network on your phone.

To select a network, open the phone’s settings and search for the possibility to select a network under mobile or network settings. Switch off automatic network selection and choose another operator’s network from the list. If it does not connect immediately, switching Airplane Mode on and off or restarting the phone might help.

The instructions may differ depending on the phone but generally you can find the possibility to manually select a network as follows:

iPhone 

Settings → Mobile Service → Network Selection → turn off automatic network selection → wait until the device displays possible networks and select a new network.

Samsung Android

Settings → Connections → Mobile Networks → Network Operators → turn off Select Automatically → wait until the device displays possible networks and select a new network.

OnePlus Android

Settings → Mobile Network → if there are two SIM-cards in the phone, select the SIM-card for which you want to change the network → Operator → turn off Auto-select → the system gives a warning that the connection could be lost → Off / Cancel Auto-select → wait until the device displays possible networks and select a new network.

Xiaomi Android

Settings → Network Settings → SIM Cards & Mobile Networks → if there are two SIM-cards in the phone, select the SIM-card for which you want to change the network → Mobile Networks → turn off Automatically Select Network → the system gives a warning that the connection could be lost → press Next and then OK → wait until the device displays possible networks and select a new network.

Sony Android

Settings → Network & Internet → Mobile Networks → turn off Automatically Select Network → wait until the device displays possible networks and select a new network.

Keep in mind!

  • If the chosen network is not operational, select another network from the list. It might take some time to find a network.
  • Once it has been announced that domestic roaming has ended, you should return your phone to your regular network. Open the network settings on your phone again and switch on automatic network selection or select your regular operator’s network manually. In necessary, restart your phone.
  • If a network has been chosen manually, it may stop the phone from automatically moving into the network with the best signal.
     

 

communications outage domestic roaming vital service

Last updated: 06.08.2026

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