By Wang Xing (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-15 07:25

Telecom services in some of the worst-hit counties of Sichuan province have been restored while those in Wenchuan and two other counties remain down, China Mobile, the country's largest cell-phone operator, said on Wednesday.

Services in Lixian and Beichun have been restored, as engineers managed to enter the counties using military helicopters, the company said.

However, Wenchuan, Maoxian and Pingwu are still without services, as engineers were unable to enter the regions due to bad weather and blocked roads, it said.

Gao Songge, a spokesman for China Mobile, said services in the three counties could be restored as early as today if circumstances permit.

Seven counties in Sichuan lost contact with the outside world after the powerful earthquake damaged the telecom network on Monday, Gao said.

Fixed-line networks in three of the seven counties have been restored, while the others have only a limited service for mobile satellite phones, he said.

An emergency telecom network was set up yesterday in Wenchuan by a military rescue team that managed to enter the region, CCTV reported.

The team plans to airdrop mobile phones and telecom equipment today to improve communications. The networks of China Unicom and China Netcom are still down.