[NFBC-Info] FW: [berkeley-disabled] SF Chronicle: =?utf-8?B?4oCYRXh0cmVtZWx5IGRhbmdlcm91c+KAmQ==?=: Cell outages during PG&E shut-offs point to problems

Eric Calhoun eric at pmpmail.com
Sun Oct 20 20:30:23 UTC 2019


Did you have problems, NFBC, during the power outage with your cell phone? 
If yes, this is a great way to advocate.


Original Message: 
From: "Robin Earth robinearth at gmail.com [berkeley-disabled]"
<berkeley-disabled-noreply at yahoogroups.com>
To: berkeley-disabled at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [berkeley-disabled] SF Chronicle: 'Extremely dangerous': Cell
outages during PG&E shut-offs point to problems
Date: 
Sun, 20 Oct 2019 12:07:42 -0700

FYI

'Extremely dangerous': Cell outages during PG&E shut-offs point to
problems
https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Extremely-dangerous-Cell-outage
s-during-14546298.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=hea
dlines&utm_campaign=sfc_morningfix&sid=5bf211d244d51f3e3235d768

Mallory Moench  <https://www.sfchronicle.com/author/mallory-moench/>Oct.
20, 2019 Updated: Oct. 20, 2019 4 a.m.
When Stephanie Yamkovenko woke up in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Oct. 10,
her power was out - and so was her cell phone service. It was in the midst
of PG&E's unprecedented power outages that cut electricity to millions of
customers across Northern California.

When her husband left for the office, she was alone at home ,where she
sometimes works and couldn't reach him. Her neighbor, who has an AT&T
landline, couldn't connect either. Neither could other neighbors with
Verizon cell service.

"We were completely cut off," she said. "It was a really uncomfortable
feeling."

Yamkovenko, who has lived in the small San Mateo County community of Sky
Londa for 1½ years, said wind often knocks down lines, causing outages..
Those never knocked out cell service, though, she said. She expected the
power shut-offs to be inconvenient, but didn't think she'd be cut off from
communication.

"I really just want cell carriers and PG&E to know this is a huge problem
and very dangerous if we're doing more shut-offs in the future,"
Yamkovenko
said.

Residents using all the major carriers - T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon -
from
Sonoma to Oakland and Orinda to Sky Londa reported that they lost service
during PG&E's power outages last week. Research group OpenSignal said more
than 90% of subscribers to those big carriers stayed connected to
high-speed cell networks in urban areas, although rural areas may have
fared worse. Regardless of the numbers, for those who lost connections as
well as power, it added to their feelings of isolation and fear that in an
emergency they wouldn't be able to reach loved ones or call 911.

Jackie Berkman, a resident of Montclair in the Oakland hills, said it was
"extremely dangerous" to be so completely cut off during the shut-off. She
has AT&T and her husband Verizon; neither got signal during the outage.

"It was frightening for me thinking about what could possibly happen. But
thinking about someone who had a medical condition or didn't have a car,
that's even more isolating," Berkman said. "What if there was an accident,
someone had a heart attack, and needed to get to the emergency room or
needed help - there was no way to contact anyone."

Government bodies, PG&E, and cell phone carriers said they did their best
to prepare for unprecedented outages with backup generator and mobile cell
sites. PG&E spokesman Danny Boyle said the company would make "every
effort" to reach out to critical service providers, including cell phone
carriers, before an outage. But after reports of less than perfect
service,
companies didn't respond to specific questions about which cell towers
failed and why.

A "relatively small" number of T-Mobile sites were down during the
outage,
spokesman Joel Rushing said, but he declined to give the exact number and
locations. Company technicians restored sites as power was switched back
on, he said.

Rushing said T-Mobile has permanent generators in key cell sites and
battery backups at others. During the outage, the company deployed a fleet
of portable, temporary generators as needed to get sites back up and
running.

"We understand that service disruptions are an inconvenience to our
customers, and our priority is to keep our customers connected," Rushing
said.

Verizon spokeswoman Jeannine Brew Braggs said Friday the company kept at
least 97% of its sites serving customers during the outage.

"We have made significant investments to ensure that whenever feasible
there is backup power at each critical site," she said. "Our teams were in
the field ensuring that backup power continued to allow our cell sites to
serve our customers."

"Like all PG&E customers, we are also affected by this power shutdown,"
AT&T spokesman Vince Bitong said. The company's network did not experience
much degradation of service, he said.

Before the power outage began, Bitong said, AT&T deployed resources from
other states to support customers and public safety, including staging
hundreds of additional generators and equipment, and actively refueled
generators. During the outage, the company provided unlimited calls, texts
and data and waived overage charges to customers in affected areas.

AT&T didn't respond to inquiries Thursday about which cell towers were
down, why, and what measures the companies were taking to prevent a
repeat.

The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates carriers, received
reports of service disruptions at a small percentage of cell sites, a
spokeswoman said in an email. But she pointed out that a downed cell site
doesn't necessarily mean the area loses coverage, because customers might
be able to connect to other towers.

The commission said it "is working closely with wireless service
providers
to receive timely updates on both the network outages caused by the power
shut-offs and the steps that providers are taking to restore service."

"This is a priority for us as it's critical that consumers have access to
reliable communications services, especially the ability to reach 911."

Last month, the FCC asked five major cell phone carriers in California
how
they were prepared for outages amid criticism of failed service during
past
disasters. In filings, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular
said they had rechargeable built-in or mobile generators to provide backup
power at most towers and mobile cell sites ready to roll out.

Backup power would last anywhere from seven hours for Sprint up to 72
hours
for Verizon to a max of 120 hours for AT&T. If an outage lasts longer -
like last week's shut-off that could have stretched out for five days -
companies can refuel the backup generators.

But if there is actually a wildfire, companies said in federal filings
they
can't guarantee access to cell towers to recharge batteries and provide
service.

Other communications providers were hit harder by the shut-offs. Comcast,
which provides broadband internet and phone service, reported that its
network centers were down in every area affected by an outage.

"The honest answer is we require electricity just like everyone else.
When
that source gets cut off, we're cut off," spokeswoman Joan Hammel said.

Either customers lost service because their home lost power or because
they
were connected to a network center that lost power even if they still had
electricity at their home, Hammel said. Comcast doesn't have the
technology
yet to determine where the source of the problem is, she said.

"We don't have those insights yet," Hammel said.

The California Public Utilities Commission, whose public advocate's
office
criticized companies in court filings for not providing service during
past
disasters, said Tuesday it is analyzing data on the impact of the
outages.
Spokesman Christopher Chow said the agency requires companies to follow
an
August mandate to keep service and provide support to customers who
experience a housing or financial crisis because of a disaster if the
governor or president declares an emergency.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email:
mallory.moench at sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench
<https://twitter.com/mallorymoench>




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