Disaster recoveryRestoring wireless communications to Puerto Rico and remote, disaster-struck areas
According to a Federal Communications Commission status report issued last week following a survey of Hurricane Maria damage, nearly 50 percent of Puerto Rico’s cell sites remain out of service, with many counties operating at less than 25 percent of full service. Daniel Bliss, director of the Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architectures (WISCA) at Arizona State University, offers insights about building a wireless infrastructure with the capacity to provide immediate, ongoing communications access during emergency situations.
According to a Federal Communications Commission status report issued last week following a survey of Hurricane Maria damage, nearly 50 percent of Puerto Rico’s cell sites remain out of service, with many counties operating at less than 25 percent of full service.
Daniel Bliss, director of the Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architectures (WISCA) at Arizona State University, offers insights about building a wireless infrastructure with the capacity to provide immediate, ongoing communications access during emergency situations.
Bliss, in a conversation with ASU Now, emphasizes growing urgency based on the trifecta of increased populations near potentially affected areas, increased dramatic events due to climate change, and increased reliance on communications by both emergency responders and the general public.
ASU Now: Aside from restoring power to wireless providers, what other measures are needed to ensure uninterrupted wireless communications in Puerto Rico and disaster-struck regions in the future?
Daniel Bliss: The economic model of current wireless systems is tuned to reasonably high-density, affluent regions with well-supported infrastructure. When a disaster strikes, the region is transformed into one that does not satisfy these criteria.
Because there is no strong economic motivation to solve these problems, access to the wireless spectrum should come with specific mandates to carriers – like the Emergency Alert System (EAS) that requires radio and television networks to serve as a public warning system during emergencies. Basic emergency access should be a fundamental licensing component for a carrier’s operation within a region.
AN: What kinds of wireless infrastructure could have prevented a total communications outage in Puerto Rico?
Bliss: Carriers currently have the ability to set up temporary cellular base stations. Interesting extensions to this concept include the Google Loon System, which puts base stations on balloons, and AT&T’s Flying COW (Cell on Wings), which was deployed in Puerto Rico last week. However, these approaches are really just band aids.
