Cell phone safety

As one state lawmaker put it, cell phone service is more than just checking Facebook. A reliable connection is needed for emergency messages, especially now as California’s landscape erupts with runaway wildfires and the power supply flickers.

It’s taken a year but Sacramento is nearing agreement on a law requiring cell phone towers in fireprone areas to be equipped with 72 hours of backup power. A recent spate of power blackouts makes the requirement ever more necessary.

Last year, electricity was shut off to hundreds of towers during a blackout aimed at preventing power lines from sparking. But that meant in the event of a fire, residents couldn’t send or receive messages. Cable systems were likewise down, further cutting communications.

A measure, SB431, by two senators, Steve Glazer, an Orinda Democrat, and Mike McGuire, a Healdsburg Democrat, would require the threeday backup power supply. The state Public Utilities

Commission has announced a similar plan, but the legislative bill would stay on the books as law.

The measure has worked its way through the Legislature fairly easily, but it faces a showdown vote before the key Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday. That pressure point has focused opposition from the telecommunications industry concerned about cost and further legal controls on the sector.

Glazer has offered concessions such as easing the requirement that all towers in highrisk areas be equipped to provide only basic service. Also, the guaranteed level of speed could be brought down to a barebones level, enough to let residents call for help and emergency services to send out crucial messages.

Tapping the power of telecommunications is essential in keeping California safe in the event of disaster. Last year’s blackouts exposed a weakness in the systems. Now at last the Legislature has a reasonable solution in the form of SB431. It deserves to pass.