WASHINGTON-Decisions by two traffic agencies to shut down mobile-phone service in four heavily traveled New York City tunnels shortly after last week’s London bombings have led to questions about who exactly gave the orders to cut off power to transmitters and whether procedures exist to address whether cellular signals should be blocked in tunnels or subways for safety reasons.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority, which yesterday restored cell-phone service in the Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels, on Monday said the New York Police Department directed it to turn off cell phone service last Thursday.
On Tuesday, an NYPD spokeswoman said the police department did not direct cell-phone service of all five national mobile-phone carriers to be turned off last week. An MTA spokeswoman subsequently said MTA officials made the decision to pull the plug on power to base stations shared by Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile USA Inc. and Nextel Communications Inc. for service in the Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels.
Meantime, cell-phone service remains down in the Lincoln and Holland tunnels operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
A PA spokeswoman said the decision to take down cell-phone service in the two tunnels was made by the Port Authority’s police department and senior staff. The Port Authority also said it was in contact with the Department of Homeland Security and state and local authorities following the London bombings last week.
The PA spokeswoman would not say when cell-phone service would resume in the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.
It remains unclear whether bombs in London were detonated by cell phones. The use of cell phones to trigger bomb explosions is a common tactic of terrorists.
