February 5, 2013, 2:24 pm
F.C.C. Seeks Ways to Keep Phones Alive in a Storm
By BRIAN X. CHEN
NY Times
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/f-c-c-revisits-communications-failures-after-hurricane-sandy/
Three months after Hurricane Sandy struck the Northeast, the federal
government is trying to determine how to keep cellphone and Internet
services running in another natural disaster.
The Federal Communications Commission met with representatives of phone
carriers, public utilities and city governments in New York on Tuesday
to discuss what happened to broadband and cell services during Hurricane
Sandy and how to make sure the widespread disruptions do not happen again.
In late October, the hurricane knocked out electricity in several
cities, causing service failures for all of the big cellphone networks
in the Northeast.
About a quarter of the cell towers were not working at some point after
the storm. Many towers had no power and their backup battery systems
were soon exhausted. Carriers used generators for power, but eventually
those required more fuel - another limited resource.
It took several days for the carriers to restore most of their service;
in some cities, cell towers are still not working.
Julius Genachowski, chairman of the F.C.C., said at the hearing that the
storm revealed how important mobile devices and Internet connections had
become. "They connect us to family, work and emergency services," Mr.
Genachowski said. "And we sure notice when we can't get through on our
phones or connect to the Internet or get TV or radio news."
At the meeting on Tuesday, the commissioners asked what could be done to
prevent network failures and to speed restoration of service and how to
make networks more resilient.
A crucial issue brought up was the inability to communicate with the
carriers. Jack Schnirman, city manager of Long Beach, N.Y., said that
after wireless service went down in his city, it was easy to contact
government officials using radio devices but impossible to contact a
phone carrier.
"The lack of communication and response from service providers was
extremely disconcerting," Mr. Schnirman said. "All cell towers were down
and no service providers were around."
He also said that after the storm, he did not see any of the trucks that
act as temporary cell towers during emergency situations.
James J. Gerace, Verizon's head of government and external affairs, said
the company had an account manager working with Long Beach, and perhaps
that person had not reached Mr. Schnirman. He did not address how one
would go about reaching a Verizon representative in the middle of a
storm. He also said the company had taken five days to deploy cell
trucks there because it had to wait for streets to open so they could
enter the area.
Parts of the meeting discussed potential solutions for the loss of
power. Rahul N. Merchant, New York City's chief information and
innovation officer, said longer-lasting batteries would be helpful for
carriers. The backup batteries the carriers now use last eight hours.
But after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the F.C.C. recommended that
carriers install backup batteries that last 24 hours. The carriers
objected, presumably because they did not want to spend the money.
At Tuesday's hearing, commissioners noted that some cities' zoning
policies did not give cell sites enough room for bigger backup
batteries. They said the federal government would need to collaborate
better with local governments to revise zoning restrictions.
Other ideas brought up in the meeting included the use of femtocells,
which are essentially miniature cell towers that people can install in
their homes, to serve as backup cell towers. The carriers are also
working with the F.C.C. on a program in which cellphone owners would be
encouraged to text a message to 911 instead of calling on a cellphone
because texting is more reliable and uses less energy.
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