As Telecommunications Outages Abound, Congress Must Act
Thursday’s nationwide telecommunication outages raised a question for many Americans: What should I do when I can't use my cell phone?
The American people’s telecommunication lines get blacked out locally during poor weather, increased user demand, and phone companies’ software glitches. However, last week’s nationwide outage was a wake-up call, and public safety and national security leaders have recently expressed increased concerns about the vulnerability of our communications system both to terrorism and natural and manmade threats.
Recently, U.S. defense leaders said that the Chinese spy balloon that made headway over American skies in 2023 could have had the capacity to produce an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on America's power grid and communications infrastructure. And a prospective EMP crisis is far from the only foreign threat this country’s cell towers currently face. In fact, this week, natural security experts expressed concern that Russia may be attempting to deploy a nuclear-armed space weapon that could wipe out America’s regular communications channels.
As an emergency management project manager and homeland security and terrorism specialist who has worked extensively with FEMA and the Department of Defense, keeping people safe and informed in the face of disaster. That is why it is so critical that federal, state, and local governments maintain effective communications redundancies.
For decades, the government has built out and improved the Emergency Alert System and National Public Warning System so emergency management professionals and the nation’s leaders could remain in touch with the populace should the worst ever occur. The EAS and NPWS are multi-tiered able to transmit emergency information via television, radio, cell, and Internet. However, when disaster strikes, citizens often lose power, and cell service becomes overloaded and goes down — just like it did last week. AM radio does not. It is far more resilient than other communications mediums. Because its signal can be received at great distances, it is truly the backbone of the nation’s public warning infrastructure.
That is why I, like most emergency managers and defense leaders in the country today, am so concerned that automakers are removing AM radio from their vehicles. They seem to be neglecting the health and vitality of the nation’s public safety infrastructure for their own commercial interests.
I know from my firsthand experience in working with FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, and countless local governments on emergency management that, if this trend continues, it will prove devastating it could be to millions of Americans when disaster strikes. FEMA itself has warned that if automakers continue this trend, millions of Americans will lose access to life-saving information during emergencies.
When I deployed to Texas with FEMA during Hurricane Harvey, I watched as AM radio represented the only way that thousands of Texans received critical alerts and updates from their local public safety professionals. While their phones and computers remained knocked out from the storm, the alerts available via the radio remained as strong as ever. Radio station managers knew how important their jobs became during this crisis, so many of them slept in their offices, working overtime to ensure that the public received the information they needed to feel comfortable and safe. Without their service, tens of thousands of people would have found themselves completely in the dark about rescue efforts and the latest disaster management news. FEMA continues to state the importance of redundant and interoperable for citizens and emergency management personnel. Without AM radio, we will lose a vital communication asset.
And this was in a scenario where the weather was the only thing precluding cell phones and the Internet from functioning. Consider how much more serious and long-term this communication issue would become if China, Russia, or another rogue nation that is working overtime to destroy our communications infrastructure succeeds. What would happen if a cyberattack occurred, impacting cell phone communication systems and critical infrastructure during a disaster? While some government agencies have redundant communication systems, civilians do not. It is incumbent upon Congress to ensure that every American has access to critical and constant information in the event this occurs.
Hundreds of members of Congress already know this. That is why they are supporting Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ed Markey’s (D-Mass.) AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, which will preserve AM radio reception in vehicles to address this growing threat. The Senate Commerce Committee has already passed the bill, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ (R-WA) House Energy and Commerce Committee will soon seek to do the same.
I don’t believe the automakers are intentionally seeking to put Americans at risk by removing AM radios, but the public safety community, at every level of government, has given them ample warning that they are endangering public safety. It’s time they listen to the professionals.
The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act has the backing of FEMA, the FCC, the Department of Transportation, and both the most conservative and liberal members of Congress. If the recent blackouts and foreign policy scares don’t demonstrate just how important it is to pass this legislation, then what will?
Congress has no higher priority than to protect public safety and America’s national security. This bill will do that, and in the wake of the wake-up call that the country received last week, it’s clear that now is the time for congressional leaders to quit dragging their feet and do the right thing.
Daven Solis is an emergency management and business continuity project manager. He is also a homeland security and terrorism specialist who has worked with FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Air Force, and various other federal emergency management agencies.
