Why post-storm wireless sucks

You just knew it was something like this:

One key factor helps explain why communities ravaged by Hurricane Sandy could not use cell phones to call for help and communicate with the outside world: mobile telephone companies have for years lobbied to kill rules that would have forced them to maintain backup power at their cell phone towers.

After Hurricane Katrina knocked out communications along the Gulf Coast, federal regulators proposed that wireless companies have backup power at all cell towers.

But the wireless industry sued to block the requirement, saying it would be a financial burden and regulators didn’t have authority to impose it. An appeals court later sided with the industry.

This week, as Sandy dealt a severe blow to the nation’s most populous region, about one in four cell towers failed, leaving thousands of customers unable to make cell phone calls for days.

The outages exposed weaknesses in wireless communications during disasters and renewed questions of whether carriers should be required to make their networks more resilient.

“The biggest issue is they have not wanted to invest the money in hardening their networks sufficiently against a catastrophic event,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge, a public interest group.

To prepare for hurricanes, wireless carriers say they adhere to “voluntary, industry-based best practices,” such as using portable cell towers on wheels, known as COWS, as temporary towers in areas without service. AT&T and T-Mobile allowed their customers this week to use each other’s networks in New York and New Jersey until their networks were fully restored.

But there are almost no rules on how wireless companies should respond to severe weather. While they work closely with federal agencies during storms, they are not required to file detailed emergency plans with them beforehand.

“It’s basically left up to the industry to decide whether to put plans in place,” Feld said.