Digital delay in communications re-build

The Hurricane Katrina disaster leads us to one glaring question that nobody has been willing to ask until now.

That being, is the lack of emergency communications due to government agencies relying too much on the emerging world of digital and not enough on good old analog two way FM? Or is there just too much lobbying by big business?
Amateur Radio Newsline's Evi Simons takes a closer look:

Lack of communications has been identified as a critical issue holding back aid in the stricken Gulf states.
But wireless service providers seem to be spending a lot of time trying to convince the FCC that they, and only they are in a position to give emergency providers in the region with the kind of communications that the post Katrina clean-up needs. The problem is that their vision of the task is that of webcams and cellphones and not the reality of the day to day struggle people face to survive.

The wireless consortiums claim that they can re-establish internal communications and provide connectivity to all disaster relief efforts. This, by installing point to point and point to multipoint links, along with I P Web cams to assist the police and fire departments who can not be everywhere in such a large area. They also claim that Voice over I-P
phones can provide voice communications to relief personnel in remote areas and many other types of normal everyday communications that most people take for granted.

What the wireless providers fail to see is that this is a situation that requires simple, basic point to point voice communications. Note the emphasis on the word voice.

Emergency personnel have no time to text message the need for a repair crew. They have little need of a picture taking cellphone to send video clips of Kjatrina's destruction that T-V news has already covered in-depth. And it really does not matter if the ability of two people to talk takes
place by radio or telephone. This is because the situation in New Orleans and the surrounding areas is such that people will die before the first webcam comes on line and that can only happen after mains power is restored to the area. And getting power up and running is one of the monumental
tasks facing those who will be rebuilding the region.

It is clear that many relief agencies stand ready and able to enter the heart of the disaster zone to provide their services but are stymied by the inability of communications providers to agree on a fast track plan. In the meantime most are relying on ham radio to keep their lifelines of communications open and the reports so far say that radio amateurs are doing a superlative job.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Evi Simons in New York.

You can be sure that in the coming months Congress and other government agencies will be holding hearings to find out what went wrong. You can also be certain that everyone at fault will be denying culpability and pointing their finger at anyone but themselves.

(ARNewslineT with information from various sources)

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