Drones could provide emergency cellphone service
Law enforcement and emergency responders have been using drones to give them an eye in the sky for years. But the unmanned aerial vehicles may soon provide ears as well. Two of the country’s largest mobile phone companies are exploring using drones as flying mobile hot spots to provide phone and other services when cell towers are down or in areas where service does not exist.
‘‘After Hurricane Sandy, we lost cell service countywide for several days,’’ said Martin Pagliughi, the director of the Cape May County Office of Emergency Management in New Jersey.
Last month, several of Cape May’s emergency responders gathered at a small airport to watch Verizon launch a 200pound drone. When it reached an altitude of 3,000 feet, an onboard hot spot started transmitting a wireless signal. On the ground, members of the Cape May police “had full coverage in the radius’’ for voice and texting, Pagliughi said.
Verizon is trying to determine how a portable 4G LTE hot spot could work in an area ‘‘where a disaster had impacted Verizon service and there is no other way to get cellular coverage to that location,’’ said Christopher Desmond, a principal engineer for the company.
Verizon is not alone in exploring the use of drones to help when disasters strike.
In 2017, AT&T won a $7 billion federal contract to construct a nationwide disaster readiness network called FirstNet. Parts of the program will include technology to provide cell service from the sky. When Hurricane Harvey struck Houston and Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico, AT&T relied on mobile hot spots driven to sites and raised onto masts to provide cellphone service. The company also can launch a remote four-rotor hovering drone, which is tethered to ground cables for data exchange and power.
Verizon’s pilotless airplane, with a 17-foot wingspan, does not hover and it does not run on batteries. Instead its gas engine supports flights that can be as long as 16 hours, while producing 400 watts of power — enough to control the drone and feed the electrical needs of a communications hot spot, camera and other onboard equipment.