FCC and PUC share blame for cellphone outages during fires
The Federal Communications Commission and the state Public Utilities Commission share blame for the widespread interruption of cellphone service during the recent Kincade fire.
At least 874 of the state’s cell sites — including 57% of sites in Marin County — were out Oct. 25 during the wildfire. Wireless networks deliver emergency alerts, transmit 911 calls and help police and firefighters communicate with one another. It’s essential that the FCC and the PUC act to ensure Californians’ lives are not put at unnecessary risk during the next state of emergency, whether that be a wildfire, earthquake or other natural disaster.
The FCC has known since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that natural disasters can significantly interrupt cellphone service. Given that 80% of 911 calls come from wireless phones, the failure to address this basic safety issue is unacceptable.
After Katrina, which killed more than 1,200 people and caused catastrophic damage in New Orleans, the federal agency adopted rules requiring carriers to provide eight hours of backup power at all cell sites and 24 hours of backup power at all central switching facilities.
But the FCC inexplicably bungled the process, failing to seek or evaluate public comments before implementing the rules. President George W. Bush’s Office of Management and Budget objected and joined the wireless industry in challenging the rules in court. It was no surprise that the FCC lost the case on procedural grounds, but its failure to produce new rules is irresponsible.
The state PUC’s efforts have been equally lame. In May, the agency’s Public Advocates Office urged the commission to order the installation of backup generators or batteries for wireless systems in areas at high risk of fires and floods and adopt rules requiring cellphone companies to provide a minimum of 72 hours of backup electrical supply at their cellphone towers. But the PUC has yet to act. Wireless carries say they have backup power at hundreds of their sites and for fleets of mobile sites they can deploy, but that it can be difficult to service backup batteries and generators or deploy mobile sites during wildfires. They also say the competitive marketplace should drive the issue, not government regulation.
Hogwash. That’s only led to the outages residents faced during the Kincade fire. And future wildfires or earthquakes are inevitable.
Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, has introduced legislation that would give states authority to require wireless companies to install backup power systems. The bill is worthy of support, but Congress should also pass legislation at the national level.
One way or another, the federal government and California must ensure reliable communications and protect the safety of residents during natural disasters.