[Mobile-Portable] Cell phone reliability was Re: Want advice

[Gary Pearce KN4AQ]

At 10:39 AM 7/27/2004, you wrote:
>Of interest.  When our community loses power, my cell phone quits working.
>
>Is this normal across all cell companies or peculiar to my provider?
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: "William R. Ware, Jr."
>
>On occasions like last fall's hurricane in Virginia, or other disasters,
>cell phone systems either get overloaded or go down.

- - -

It's certainly not universally true.  It depends on what backup power they 
have at the cell sites and for the network infrastructure.  Some have large 
battery banks that get them through for a few hours, some have generators 
that last as long as they can get fuel.

Hurricane Isabel (referenced above) left the eastern quarter of North 
Carolina in the dark on a Thursday.  I went to one of the counties that had 
total power loss on Friday for ARES.  My cell phone worked everywhere I 
traveled after passing the last commercial power.  I didn't try to use it a 
lot, assuming the circuits would be busy, but those times I did use it, it 
worked normally.  It was still working when I left Sunday afternoon.

People using another carrier reported no service at all.

I have a Verizon phone, but Verizon doesn't maintain the infrastructure in 
that part of the state - they have a service agreement.  I believe the 
company name is United States Cellular, but I'm not sure.

This is rural territory.  In the larger city of Raleigh, (and in a somewhat 
earlier day for cell phones, in the mid 90's), Hurricane Fran did leave 
spotty cellular and phone coverage.  A more recent ice storm that killed 
power for more than a week in some areas didn't have that much effect.  My 
wired and cell service stayed up, so I could talk and shiver.

73,
Gary KN4AQ