Few options with communications during disaster

[Fire14]

I wonder if that stratsphere cell unit would be an option, since they didn't mention that in the article


Public Has Few Communication Options During Disaster

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Communication is one of the most critical necessities during a disaster. Unfortunately for the public, there are few viable options when things go bad.

Hurricane Katrina marks the latest example, as the flooding has ravaged the telecommunications infrastructure in the lower Mississippi and Louisiana region - particularly New Orleans. In that situation, most people, and even some businesses, are generally out of luck, since resources and attention are placed on providing communications for public safety agencies and the military.

Still, there are some options out there and in development. They just aren't practical. The most dependable communications device is the satellite phone. These phones bounce their signals off satellites orbiting Earth, so any destruction to the infrastructure on the ground would have little effect on those devices.

The phones remain a niche product, however, due to their prohibitive costs. Iridium Satellite LLC, for example, makes satellite phones that have an average retail price of $1,000 to $1,100. The average price per minute of a call is $1 to $1.20.

Other options are more speculative. Ovum wireless telecom analyst Roger Entner said a "mesh" architecture potentially could get around downed wireless cell infrastructure. Under a mesh network, the handsets themselves become mini-cell towers, with traffic moving by bouncing from one cellphone to another until it reaches its destination. The downside is each phone in the mesh network exhausts its battery even if not in active use.

"Some people aren't necessarily comfortable with that," Entner said. "Some people may object to others' use of battery time."

With no ability to recharge a phone, the technology would have only limited use. Still, the network is self-healing and self-building and emulates the kind of mesh networks that some public safety agencies use. The public safety network, however, runs on a different priority frequency.

A more realistic option is a feature on a few Sprint Nextel Inc. (S) Nextel mobile handsets that offer a kind of walkie-talkie service that doesn't run on the network.

"The phones are ideal for these types of situation," said Sprint spokesman John Taylor.

The devices will work when the network is down. But the range is limited to six miles, so calls from New Orleans would be restricted to the city area. The company has loaned out several hundred phones to local emergency services.

The use of the Internet protocol-based network is another option. Motorola Inc. (MOT) offers a service that takes different voice networks and jams them into one Web-based network, connecting different agencies such as police and military. The technology is relegated to public service agencies, but eventually could be applied to power or phone companies.

While these options exist, ultimately it may be too expensive to reliably connect people across long distances during a disaster, especially when so much focus is placed on disaster recovery services.

For instance, the wireless carriers could fly in spare cell towers to resurrect the network. But that option is too costly for the companies.

"They don't make extra money to get those calls connected," said Roland Van der Meer, senior venture partner at venture capital firm ComVentures. "The carriers don't make enough money to have (the network) available all the time."

Other forms of communication, however, remain. Survivors of Hurricane Katrina, for instance, kept in touch via Web logs and Internet bulletin boards. And for where there was cell service available, text messages were the preferred method of contacting people, since it takes up less power and doesn't require a constant connection.

[Matt]

Just like 9/11, when the phone service went downhill, SMS worked almost all the time. I stayed in touch via SMS since all other forms of communication were jammed.

[Bugwart]

Katrina in New Orleans and nearby Parishes (Jefferson and Palquemnines) is very unusual since the water can not drain back into the ocean or Lake Pontchartrain. Much of these areas are below sea level. Since they are under water, power can not be restored to much of this area until the water is pumped out. Most of the pumps are electric. Catch 22.

Most cell phone towers have back up either in the form of batteries, generators, or fuel cells. These wil keep the cell phone tower running from a few hours up to a few days. Typically, that is how long it takes to restore power or to service the cell tower.

Cell phone batteries will typically go a few days, unless you use them continuosly until the battery is dead. No power means no recharging.

With no power, the journalist who wrote this is forgetting that you need some way to recharge the batteries on your Nextel, sat-phone, or 2 way radio. Ah, just plug them into the car/truck and let the alternator charge your phone/radio. Sure, but then where will you fill up the tank of your car/truck? No power = no fuel.

[WirelessBeachBum]

Originally Posted by Fire14

A more realistic option is a feature on a few Sprint Nextel Inc. (S) Nextel mobile handsets that offer a kind of walkie-talkie service that doesn't run on the network.

"The phones are ideal for these types of situation," said Sprint spokesman John Taylor.

The devices will work when the network is down. But the range is limited to six miles, so calls from New Orleans would be restricted to the city area. The company has loaned out several hundred phones to local emergency services.
[/b]

If you read the manual on these phones, they are basically a wireless phone with an FMRS radio built in. And you cannot have the phone and the radio portion on at the same time.

So all users of the network would have to switch over and be on the same system, which isn't always practical because in many cases only certain towers of a network may be down.

[WirelessBeachBum]

Having a network team that is prepared for situations and a careful plan are what's important.

A much better solution in my opinion is a wireless network that prepares in advance by putting generators on as many towers as possible and having a fleet of cellsites on wheels and light trucks ready to come into and get the system up and going in places where towers or sites need to be repaired.

Advanced planning with the locations of your switches is very important.

There is a carrier I know about (I won't say names, for security purposes.) but they located their switch that covers a couple of states in an area that is known for flooding....that is just poor planning, I don't care what kind of deal you got on rent.

Many carriers in my area have not spent the money to put generators on their sites, so when there are power outages, once the batteries die the service is gone. And with the high temps down here it's tough to keep your back-up batteries in good condition.