Bridge Collapse: Why Did Cell Phones Fail?
These failures might have been OK ten years ago when cell phones were still something of a novelty to the average American. But in today's day and age, as we increasingly abandon traditional landlines in favor of mobile handsets, the dependability of these networks is crucial. Failure is unacceptable. Those ads featuring the nerdy "Can you hear me now?" guy are quite frankly insulting.
Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any official solution in the works. There's been no plea from FEMA or mandate from the FCC to the cell networks to have a contingency plan in place during emergencies. And if they're not obligated to spend money on improving their networks, do you think the cellular carriers would ever bother? Of course not.
The answer, it turns out, isn't so far-fetched. It would be relatively easy for providers to implement, and might even make them some money. In an article written in response to Hurricane Katrina a full eight months before the Minneapolis tragedy, scientist and author David Brin proposed an emergency system in which cell providers adopt peer-to-peer technology similar to that used by file-sharing programs on the Internet. Instead of phone calls being routed through cell towers, they bounce from phone to phone until they get where they need to go. Brin also suggests limiting this peer-to-peer system to text messaging in times of emergency. Voice calls eat up a lot of bandwidth and can easily overload a system, whereas text messaging uses packet switching, like the Internet, which breaks messages up into smaller, more manageable pieces before sending them. By circumventing overloaded cell towers and limiting communication to low-bandwidth text messaging, it is possible in times of tragedy for the cell networks to deliver on the promises of coverage and reliability that they make in their ad campaigns.
The peer-to-peer component of Brin's proposal would definitely benefit cell providers when there isn't a state of emergency. By routing voice calls from phone to phone to phone instead of through towers, it would be possible for networks to extend into the further reaches of those regions where cell coverage is still spotty or non-existent. That would certainly result in more customers, and it would definitely make it harder to snicker at the TV when AT&T promises more bars or boasts about fewer dropped calls.
For now, however, this is just an idea put out there for debate on the blogosphere. Until the government compels cellular providers to adopt this or a similar emergency backup system, we're stuck with the same infrastructure that has failed us time and time again. Fortunately, there are a couple of things you can do during the next emergency situation to help you better communicate with loved ones. The first is to try text messaging instead of calling. As we said, text messaging requires much less bandwidth than voice, and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, was one of the only ways survivors found they could communicate. The other was push-to-talk. In the days following Katrina and the New Orleans levy breaches, Sprint Nextel users found that, though voice calling was down, they were still able to communicate via the push-to-talk walkie-talkie functions of their phones. This is because push-to-talk is not routed through cell towers, but is direct communication between two phones.
For more on the technical how-to behind Brin's proposed emergency system, read his full blog post.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
PJ said 8:53AM on 8-05-2007
Having lived through 2 MAJOR disasters in my city, both natural and man-made, I can urge you that everyone should have a regular, plug-in-the-wall landline phone incase of emergencies.
Cordless phones fail in a power outage, Cell phones jam the system. But we always got through on one or the other; the old-fashioned phone OR the cell. Something to think about.
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Robert I. Laitres said 12:24PM on 8-04-2007
The reasons that such systems fail, besides the retarded technology, is that whenever something happens, every "Tom, Dick and Jane" wants to get on the phone to do nothing more than "jabber." If they had any common sense,they would realize that the communication systems need to be used to address the situation, and discussing one's "feelings", and how it "affected them emotionally" is garbage. Some people need to grow up to realize that they are not the center of the universe and that for their "itsy bitsy" sensitivities, we don't give a "tinker's damn". In such situations, put your mind in gear first and maybe your jaws wont get so tired. If you have to whine, do so later.
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Howard S. said 3:08AM on 8-12-2007
Robert hit it right on the head. If people would realize that there is only so much radio spectrum to go around then maybe they could refrain from using their cellphones UNLESS they had to report a REAL EMERGENCY. That would allow the emergency responders to have use of the cellular systems for the actual response. After several experiences like that, I have gone to sateillite phone service to make sure I can communicate in an emergency situation. Costly but it works.
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Philip said 5:30PM on 8-10-2007
Cell Phones are great for everyday use. During times of disaster, Amateur Radio (HAM) is the best alternative. As an Amateur Operator, licensed by the FCC, you are able to send message traffic locally or world wide. HAM's have been there in every disaster and I can predict that they were there during these disasters assisting. Check out http://www.ARRL.com for what it takes to get your license.
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Nextel tech... said 7:18AM on 8-11-2007
Just one point of information regarding the Nextel network push-to-talk function; it absolutely does go through the same network as a standard voice call, but it is handled in a packet switched mode instead of being circuit switched. That means that the channels can handle many more requests for service. They are also processed at twice the data rate, so we can realistically handle 3 or 4 times the amount of "conversations" in walkie talkie mode compared to standard phone calls.
As far as the next argument goes regarding building the site's capacity for emergencies, it's a great idea but prohibitively expensive. The smallest card that we can get to add voice capacity to a CDMA cell site runs about $50,000. Multiply that by the number of cell sites that we have, and you end up with a bankrupt company. It's like having a second car in your garage that you only use when your primary car runs out of gas.
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John said 10:10PM on 8-11-2007
The problem is the people who do nothing more then call friends and family and talk about it. Even the mayor asked that all uneeded travel be stopped around the area for emergency personel. We do it to ourselves. I can just imagine how it be again if another 911 type attack were to happen. We certainly depend too much on wireless devices.Unlike the old land line phones, which could reroute traffic better to free up local areas affected by increased traffic. The cell towers not only rely on landline systems but their own limits on the towers ability to handled only so many calls at once.Even on a normal day this can happen.I am not sure with current technology cell providers can do much about it.
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Allen said 1:41AM on 8-12-2007
Hey Tom, to be quite honest, you sound like a die-hard liberal. Why is your answer, as liberals ALWAYS DO, say the goverment should do something, why? Because the big bad corporations won't do it because they are preserving the ultimate evil, profits. NOT. As many people answering this blog have already pointed out, it is the fault of people tying up the airwaves that cause the problem, when they should not. The Nextel rep mentioned the massive cost that would occur, CORRECT. And there are other reasons that you, and I, did not think of. By the way, Verizon won high marks fot keeping their network going after 9/11. No one knows when a disaster will strike, and things will happen, like no cell phone service, people need to use their common sense during a disaster. Using the phone for example;make the call if you have too, keep it very very short, hang up, use it again ONLY IN AN EMERGENCY, otherwise DON'T! Common sense.
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david vanette said 6:57PM on 8-20-2007
cfrom my understanding cell phone companys block out regular customers and give prority to the police
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