The difference between cellular networks before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy came in bold relief during the recent power outage in New York and other East Coast states.
Wireless networks hummed in spite of the blackouts. People could still communicate. On Sept. 11, 2001, all the networks collapsed except for the Cingular Wireless Mobitex service.
“On 9/11, capacity was jammed out,” explained Martin Dunsby, vice president and chief operating officer at inCode Wireless. “During the blackouts, most networks handled the load and stayed on the air.”
He added that those who lost connectivity could not blame the networks because it was due to power loss on their handset batteries.
“Coverage has been improved,” agreed Ritta Mard, spokeswoman for Nokia Corp.
Most carriers have spent money to increase redundancy and high power on their networks, especially in the New York area, the major target of the terrorist attacks, Dunsby noted.
The attacks on the World Trade Center destroyed wireless hubs and knocked out antennae, disabling the capacity to communicate.
A focus among carriers since 9/11 has been to make cell sites less vulnerable. Vendors supplied more radios and installed more base stations, tailoring equipment to match minutes of use with extra capacity for untoward events such as blackouts.
“Sept. 11 was a wake-up call for wireless companies,” said Dunsby.
Indoor coverage improved significantly, Mard said. Part of the reason for that is because people are using their wireless handsets for long-distance calls. Indeed, is is that the usage pattern is shifting with the disappearance of the concept of long distance in the market. Carriers have offered large buckets of off-peak minutes across the country with their largesse of free minutes to consumers.
“Busy hours have moved to the evenings and not mornings and traffic times,” explained Dunsby, stating that carriers have pushed usage to the suburban areas.
With this strategy, carriers have opened up standard transport corridors like highways, metropolitan areas and city centers. They also have made cell sites smaller with more base stations so that they can handle capacity challenges more efficiently.
However, more people using wireless services in the suburbs brings its own challenges. Networks are not operating near capacity in these areas, and carriers have to figure out how to make money in an environment where people are using their “free” minutes, Dunsby said.
“It is unprofitable capacity,” he said, since carriers have to keep subsidizing the minutes. The operators have to seek new, creative ways to make money, he suggested, like priority service.Carriers like AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Sprint PCS have tried to confront the matter with bundled services, but the challenge still persists.
Mard said the networks are being tweaked to adapt to peak coverage and direct base stations to areas of need in the short-term.Wireless priority service is another industry solution to the challenges of 9/11.
“It was recognized that a special kind of access should be reserved for emergency,” explained Earl Clark, director of strategy and marketing for Nokia Networks in North America.
A company known then as BynCorp led an industry coalition to put together the initiative, which already existed in the landline system. Computer Sciences Corp. since has acquired BynCorp. When fully completed, WPS will reserve some capacity for emergency services and specific government personnel in the public safety and security areas, he said.
