Hello fellow operators,
The recent northern California fires wiped us out along with many
other service providers and services including cellular, landline,
e-911, cable and the like and I feel it's of operational concern the
fragility of the telecommunications networks that link us together and
the experiences had during this most recent event. I hope this topic is
welcome and I apologize in advance for length.
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I am the founder and owner of an Internet Service Provider business
in Mendocino County, California and I also operate a CLEC (Competitive
Local Exchange Carrier, a type of telecommunications company akin to ATT
or Frontier), also in Mendocino County, California. The recent Northern
California fires were again a direct and upfront demonstration of the
potential for unanticipated widespread public disaster and again
demonstrated how vulnerable we all are. Especially, the rising
dependence on broadband service, and an expectation by end users that
these services which are critical to them will continue functioning
during emergencies as they may have no other access. There was a
complete and total breakdown in telecommunication services due to fire
which wiped out a primary telecommunications cable, and with it, e-911,
land lines, cellular, cable and other telecommunication services. I hope
that there will be a more complete public investigation and report on
this latest incident, but in the mean time I would like to just offer
what I know and to suggest where we could go from here.
In the early morning of October 9, the Northern California fires
were in effect and in Redwood Valley California, a fire was burning that
destroyed a AT&T telecommunications cable that runs between Ukiah and
Willits. This single cable is the primary carrier of nearly all
telecommunications services north of Ukiah. Although I cannot comment on
the totality of the outage due to this specific fire and line cut, it's
widely reported elsewhere that services were affected all the way up to
Arcata at least. For Mendocino County, I can report that this
telecommunication outage resulted in loss of e-911, cellular, landline,
cable and most all other broadband services, and caused a complete
outage of our service too. This resulted in a virtual dark age, where
reliable and up to date information concerning the emergency situation
was unable to be communicated, people could not find their families or
know whether they got out in time because nothing was working and no way
to talk. We were reduced to using paper and posting notes at the Library
or other emergency shelter locations or other places where people
gathered in order to communicate. People in these areas also had to use
cash to buy supplies. Nothing worked.
We attempted to engage emergency restoration processes on our own
for our own customers and services. We determined that we could rapidly
deploy high capacity microwave connecting a remote location where we
also already operate microwave, to our main point of presence at an ATT
building in Ukiah, and provide a sufficient level of service to all of
our customers that would be a huge benefit during this crisis. As a CLEC
with an existing presence and power arrangement and so forth within this
facility, it seemed natural that we should be able to go ahead and get a
simple OK to go do the work. But, we encountered lethargy and
insensitivity to the widespread outage and emergency conditions we are
trying to address. We notified ATT of our need and only days later,
without followup response, it was suggested that we somehow don't have
the legal authority to install microwave (despite the fact that our 544
page contract with ATT that allows our presence within their facilities
in the first place DOES SAY 'microwave' is allowed), and further they
suggest we'd have to give up all of our existing contractual rights and
that if it could happen, it would be only with months of delay and
endless expense and bureaucratic nonsense that is only designed to slow
down and de-incentivize any such initiative. The equipment we were
proposing, is small, low power, lightweight, license free gear that
could easily fit complete in a car and be deployed within hours without
prior notice or coordination. The electrical and structural requirements
are next to nothing, and present absolutely no risk to anyone or the
facility. We could have had service restored and further, could have
plugged a critical gap by creating an active backup telecommunications
path which could be used in future emergencies. I am frustrated with the
lack of cooperation to restore services during this latest incident and
I think it speaks volumes about the mentality of the incumbent
providers. They can't get it together, but here I am standing by with
the solution at least for my own customers and why, they just don't want
to allow me to do it either.
Mendocino County (and northern counties also connected on this same
telecommunication cable) have suffered similar telecommunications
outages before. Prior to this event, a cable just north of Hopland was
cut by two individuals thinking they were stealing copper, resulting in
widespread outages lasting upwards of 14 hours. And prior to that, a car
crash on the coast hit the one pole where the cable system comes in from
the east, wiping out all services along the coast for an extended period
of time. And before that, a fire in redwood valley just north of coyote
valley casino along the roadway burned out the cable again as in this
instance. And before that, another fire north of Willits burned the
cable again. And the time before that, a backhoe south of Hopland dug up
the cable and cut it, again resulting in far reaching outages affecting
hundreds of thousands of people.
These repeated outages are not being taken seriously and nothing in
substance is being done to fortify the telecommunications network
against the next disaster, despite the fact that disaster can and will
occur again. We have repeatedly drawn attention to these vulnerabilities
but the public perception and awareness of the risks wanes quickly once
the crisis is over. I think the incumbent providers have had ample
opportunity to address the underlaying causes of their repeated
widespread outages, and the empty promises and assurances they have made
after past prior disasters should be proof that no actual steps will be
taken, that they either do not truly understand or care about the effect
that loss of telecommunications services has and the risk it presents to
the public.
The basic fundamental problem facing the telecommunications network
in Mendocino County, is the fact that it is structured without any sort
of backup communication links. A primary communications cable extends
north along highway 101 at Hopland and then goes into Ukiah. This cable
then splits out at Ukiah and goes north up 101 thru Willits, while
another segment goes west thru Boonville to Mendocino and then up and
down along the coast. A cut at any of several points results in the
complete isolation of communities past the cut as what occurred during
the recent fire. A basic solution to such a situation then, is to have
additional cables to increase the connections between areas, so that if
a cable is cut and disrupts communication flowing one way, that the
communications can flow over another path from another direction. But
the incumbent providers have failed so far to do anything and are likely
to continue to ignore this lack of redundancy.
I believe that there are some realistic solutions available, and
based on my business experience in Mendocino County, I have developed
the beginnings of a plan of action. The short of it is, there needs to
be a redundant network of geographically diverse, very high capacity
telecommunication links that connect the core of the County, in order to
overcome the existing problem of there being only 1 connection today. We
would need new fiber to connect the major cities from alternate
directions, and we further would need new connectivity to other sources
of out of region telecommunication services besides AT&T (Such as
Level3, who has their own independent cable route into the county). It
would further require service providers and emergency responders to all
lease connectivity on this redundant system for full effect, the net
result however, could be a telecommunications system that stands up and
continues functioning and with emergency first responders as well as the
general public able to communicate during emergencies.
Although I am busy with business and ensuring my customers recover
from this event, I certainly am happy to add additional background or
technical information if anyone is interested. Going forward, I also
could also use help in identifying funding sources and other contacts
who could help with some of the heavy lifting that is going to be needed
here and so any pointers would certainly be appreciated.
Thank you.
Mike Ireton
President
Your Town Online, Inc DBA WillitsOnline
Rural Broadband Now, LLC
