Nødradio-salget tredoblet etter Telenor-bruddet

Telenor's network outage earlier this month has led to a significant surge in demand for emergency radios in Norway, according to a recent report by TV2. The outage left many Nordmanns (Norwegians) without a reliable means of communication for up to four hours, prompting them to consider their own preparedness. Power, a TV2 subsidiary, reported a tripling of emergency radio sales within just one week of the incident.

This trend is not unique to Power; Clas Ohlson and Biltema saw similar increases in sales, with Clas Ohlson reporting a 45% rise and Biltema experiencing a staggering 130% increase over the two weeks following the disruption. TV2 conducted a survey to gauge public reaction to the event, revealing that nearly 40% of young respondents had considered or initiated some form of preparedness in response to the outage.

Specifically, 16% of those surveyed had purchased an emergency radio. However, the survey also highlighted a lack of knowledge among the younger generation about the role of radio in crisis situations, with over half unaware that NRK P1 serves as the official emergency channel. Many young people also indicated that they would primarily look for information from other sources if communication channels failed, underscoring the importance of emergency radios as a reliable means of accessing official information during crises.

Kari Helene Partapuoli, General Secretary of Sanitetskvinnene, emphasized the critical role of emergency radios in ensuring access to official information from authorities, especially when other communication channels are unavailable. She recommended having a radio that operates independently of regular electricity and can receive DAB signals from NRK P1.