FCC: Emergency phone systems worked as planned after quake

Although wireless networks were jammed following last week’s East Coast earthquake, there were no reports of problems with public safety communications, according to a preliminary assessment by the Federal Communications Commission.

Public safety agencies have their own dedicated networks, so the wave of calls that temporarily crippled commercial networks did not affect first responders’ communications. 911 calls, however, operate on commercial networks, so people who tried to report emergencies during the cell outage likely were unable to do so. Although the problem of network congestion does not affect public safety agencies, some lawmakers argue that the “D Block” of spectrum should be set aside for a nationwide public safety network.

(Aug 27)