FCC wants cell sites to have emergency power

The U.S. government wants every cellular telephone tower in the country to have at least 8 hours of battery or other power backup at every one of the nation's cellular tower and other receive and transmit sites, but it has not addressed how the cell phone infrastructure will be able to handle the millions of calls that might be expected during a man made or natural disaster.

Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reports:

The FCC says that when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, wind and flooding knocked out power to hundreds of cell towers and cell sites. This says the regulator lead to the silencing of wireless communication exactly when emergency crews and victims needed it.

To avoid similar telecommunications collapse in the future, the Federal Communications Commission wants cellular transmitter sites in the U.S. to have at least eight hours of backup power in the event mains power fails. Several cellular service providers agree that their networks need to become more resilient to disaster, but they oppose the FCC's backup power regulations, claiming they were illegally drafted and would present a huge economic and bureaucratic burden.

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has already placed put the new regulations on hold while it considers an appeal by some in the wireless industry. But the FCC is expected to fight hard to get its way. The agency says that the need for backup power at cell sites in the event of emergencies has been made abundantly clear by recent events, and the cost of failing to have such power may be measured in lives lost.

There is one fallacy with the FCC argument. While battery power at cell sites might keep them operational unless the tower falls or the site is totally destroyed, it does not mean that very many calls would get through. The very nature of the cellular telephone infrastructure is rather fragile and was not developed to be a stand alone emergency communications system. Thats because its open for anyone, anywhere to use 24 hours a day.

What the FCC has yet to address is how to handle the call volume that would likely bring cellular service to a halt if an emergency like the agency is describing were to come to pass. An emergency where a decentralized two way radio system would likely be the only form of communications system to survive. An emergency communications system such as that provided free of charge by radio amateur across the United States and world wide.

Bruce Tennant, K6PZW
Amateur Radio Newsline

There are almost 210,000 cell towers and roof-mounted cell sites across the country and carriers have said many would require some modification. At least one industry estimate puts the price tag for an 8 hour back up power system at up to $15,000 each.

Source: Amateur Radio Newsline