The failure, rectified by Monday afternoon, is helping to fuel calls for Washington regulators to demand greater resiliency for mobile phone networks in the face of storms, fires and other natural disasters. AT&T said it was operating 13 mobile cell towers, while many parts of its wireline network relied on backup power. The mobile industry often works together during crises, said Rich Young, a Verizon spokesman. Outages from past storms and wildfires have raised questions about the phone network’s resiliency. The agency in 2016 endorsed a wireless industry pledge to promote resiliency in their networks during disasters through steps including letting calls travel on one another’s networks.

Source: The Star September 01, 2021 06:00 UTC