WASHINGTON-The wireless industry painted a rosy picture Sept. 15 of what happened to its networks during last month’s blackout.
“The wireless industry really is a veteran in restoring service,” said Kathryn Condello, vice president of operations for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. “Our citizens and emergency responders have more means of access than any other on the globe.”
Condello made her presentation before the FCC’s Network Reliability & Interoperability Council, which examined the impact of the blackout on all telecommunications networks.
Some sites experienced intermittent service, admitted Condello, but she chalked that up to the “interdependencies between the telecom and electrical sectors.”
Best practices developed and used by the wireless industry rely on electricity, said Condello, so CTIA will be working with the electricity industry once the reason for the blackout is determined.
“Now that the unthinkable has happened, the wireless sector is actively reviewing its assumptions about the electrical sector and the implications that it would have for our power management and restoration practices,” said Condello.
While the industry was congratulating itself for escaping mostly unscathed, Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, issued the wireless industry a warning. “In times like these, we are going to see an ever-increasing demand on wireless,” said Powell.
Condello later told RCR Wireless News that there may have to be a philosophical discussion about whether customers want lower prices or an always-available-even in catastrophes-network.
“You have to decide what kind of network your customers want,” said Condello. “And that isn’t going to happen for $39.99 a month.”
As for wireless priority access, additional training of what is and is not available is necessary, said Katharine Burton of the National Communications Center, noting that some people tried to use capabilities on the system that are not yet available.
In general, the telecommunications industry seemed to perform well during the blackout, but official statistics are not yet available because it has not been 30 days since the event, said P.J. Aduskevicz of AT&T Corp. and chair of the Network Reliability and Steering Committee.
After the blackout, several state regulators called for mandating the use of the NRIC best practices, but Powell said he opposes that idea.
“As long as the process works effectively, there is no need for regulation,” said Powell, noting that the best practices “leave specific implementation decisions to each individual firm.”
There seemed to be general agreement at the NRIC meeting that mandating the use of the best practices could actually harm the process of industry best practices. There was a warning though that when best practices are not used and problems occur, the urge to mandate their use grows.
NRIC, made up of industry executives, has been meeting for more than a decade to collect data on and examine solutions to network outages. Its portfolio of issues has steadily increased and grown more important with the advent of homeland security in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
