Robert Lederman here:
Here's a good plan to make the public completely dependant on "official"
sources for all info in the event of a disaster. It's a prerequisite
for a police state, martial law etc.
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NY Times December 12, 2001
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
U.S. Considers Restricting Cellphone Use in Disasters
By JAYSON BLAIR
Federal officials are working on a plan to close cellphone networks to
almost everyone but government officials in the event of another major
emergency like the Sept. 11 attacks, officials said.
The move is intended to prevent the networks from being so clogged with
calls that emergency workers cannot communicate. But there is some concern
among cellphone companies about the costs and the possible public outcry if
people cannot contact loved ones in an emergency.
Cellular telephone companies reported after the attacks that sales had
surged among those who wanted cellphones in case of an emergency. Although
the cellphone networks were overloaded during the attacks, many people in
the towers and doomed jetliners were able to call loved ones, and those who
were safe were also able to contact family and friends. Passengers on Flight
93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, are believed to have helped bring the
plane down after finding out about the attacks in cellphone calls.
The new system would give calls from local, state and federal government
officials first priority during emergencies. Federal officials had planned
to have a temporary system running in Washington, New York and Salt Lake
City by the end of January, but the concerns of the cellular companies are
so great that they are backing away from a quick deployment.
In October, the National Communications System, a government agency in
Arlington, Va., that advises the White House on telecommunications issues,
said that it had received a commitment from Verizon Wireless to shut the
networks to almost all but official traffic in case of an emergency in those
cities in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics in February at Salt Lake City.
But Verizon officials dispute that, saying that they were never that close
to an agreement.
Government officials said that the public inconveniences notwithstanding,
the system is necessary to protect national security.
"Cellphone usage by the general public in emergency situations results in
congestion in wireless networks, which has prevented national security and
emergency response personnel from obtaining access during emergencies and
natural disasters," the N.C.S. said in a statement at the time, adding that
when landline networks are damaged, cellphones may be clogged further.
Yesterday, Stephen Barrett, an N.C.S. spokesman, said that the talks were
stalled. "Right now we can't do much of anything, because we are still
working on negotiations."
Discussions about virtually turning over cellphone networks to the
government in an emergency have been under way for several years, federal
officials said, but plans were accelerated after Sept. 11.
In New York, dozens of cellphone towers were knocked out of service at the
trade center, as well as emergency communications systems on the roof of the
north tower. Government officials say that as few as one in every 20 calls
connected that day. In addition, 200,000 regular telephone lines were
knocked out after a Verizon central office near the trade center was
damaged, further hurting emergency communications.
Government officials said that the priority system had the support of The
New York Police Department, the New York Fire Department, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, which all suffered
major communications problems in the days after the attacks when their
offices were destroyed or phone service went down because of Verizon's
problems.
N.C.S. officials said that the initial system they were working on would
guarantee that 2,000 government officials in Washington, New York and Salt
Lake City would be able to make wireless calls in an emergency. It would
later be expanded to give priority to calls from 15,000 government workers
in each city and then 50,000 workers in each city, officials said. The
N.C.S. goal is to have a nationwide system in place by 2002.
Under the system outlined by the N.C.S., government officials would be given
an access code to allow priority calls. Each code would be assigned one of
five priority levels.
The system will not be unlike the one for regular landline calls, which
gives priority to calls from certain telephone numbers. The main difference
for consumers, would be that the cellular networks have nowhere near the
capacity of landline networks, making it more likely that most of the public
would not be able to use cellphones in an emergency.
In addition to concern about impact on consumers, cellular companies said
that the price tag could be as much as $2 billion nationwide, about the same
cost as the cellular 911 system. It is unclear who will have to pay to the
network equipment and upgrades to computer systems to support the system.
Cellular phone companies have advocated government financing.
Officials say that because of the potential costs, taking a piece of the
cellular spectrum, building and maintaining a new wireless network with
thousands of hubs and computers, and only using it in emergencies is not
even being considered.
Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest
cellular telephone carrier, declined comment other than to say, "When the
government is prepared to announce something, the government will announce
something."
The N.C.S., according to government officials, is also also in discussions
with other cellular telephone companies, including VoiceStream Wireless and
Sprint PCS Group.
"We want to understand exactly what they are looking at, what the
requirements would be and how to implement it on a network," said James
Fisher, a spokesman for Sprint. "There are a number of complicated things
involved, and we want to look at the whole picture and what the implications
might be for our consumers."
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