City Governor Alexander Beglov said in an interview with TASS that the St. Petersburg authorities have developed measures to “protect” tourists during mobile Internet outages.
Among these measures are “already being taken” by the authorities and representatives of the tourism sector, Bigloff mentioned paper maps and guidebooks.
“In the pavilions of the city’s tourist information office, guests will be informed about the transfer process, provided with paper maps and guides, and simply given directions. “Employees of the mobile information service ‘Ask Me’ will also distribute cards to citizens and answer questions,” the governor said, answering a question about measures to “protect” tourists during communications blackouts.
The authorities have also already sent a request to include the city’s tourism portal “Visit Petersburg” on the so-called white list. This is a list of sites operating in Russia during an internet blackout.
Tourists, according to Beglov, can get help at the city’s call center: you can call there or write to the chatbot in Max messenger. He claims that during Internet outages, there is an alternative in St. Petersburg – the free citywide Wi-Fi network SPB_Free.
St. Petersburg “Paper” edition to examine Wi-Fi points in the city in December last year and March this year. Journalists discovered that at several points marked on the map of the St. Petersburg administration, the SPB_Free network was not found, and where it was, the Internet was slow.
In St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, as in many other regions of Russia, the authorities regularly block mobile Internet. They explain the restrictions with security measures against the backdrop of Ukrainian drone attacks. by the accounts “Papers”, from March 1 to May 21, mobile Internet was restricted for 34 days in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region.