The Remote Mobility Zone, announced Monday, includes an antenna that fits in a suitcase, along with a satellite dish. The unit requires a generator to work, but government and public safety agencies can deploy one to handle up to 14 simultaneous calls and 2G data within a half-mile radius. AT&T will offer other organizations a fixed cell site option or, for government use, small cell sites that can be attached to vehicles.
The portable cell tower could also be used by organizations that operate in remote locations where AT&T holds licensed spectrum, but in which wireless coverage may not be available. It will retail for between $15,000 and $45,000, plus monthly fees, and will allow any AT&T phone to connect to the voice and data network.
Why this matters
In the aftermath of natural disasters, wireless operators have to devote fleets of trucks to act as wireless cell towers while they rebuild their networks. It's a time-consuming and expensive process. With its new Remote Mobility Zone, AT&T is putting some of that responsibility in the hands of first responders.
The need for a quick response time was abundantly clear in the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, in which hundreds of Japanese residents could not reach their loved ones. Local wireless operators are still struggling to rebuild their networks. If government and public safety agencies could help, the wireless downtime could be lessened, especially for critical communication in the most severely affected areas.
For more
Here's more on how the wireless operators spring to action in emergencies.
- Does Telecom Have a Crisis Management Plan?
- Japan Efforts Continue, Impact Assessed
- Quake Rattles Japan Telecom
- NTT Updates on Earthquake Impact
- Japan Update: NTT Discusses Network Recovery
- Japan Is Shouting at Operators – Will They Listen?
— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile
@Laurent,
There are a few issues with using sat phones. First, you would need to have the first responders already have them, check them on a regular basis, etc. Most sat phones are very limited, some have very large antennae and overall, make a very poor phone to carry around constantly. So that would require having two phones per person. Now the second issue, does everyone have all of the phone numbers they need in the second phone? If not, who are they going to call? If you need to call Bob and the only phone number you have for Bob is the one that is on the currently unavailable network, you won't be getting a hold of Bob.
Now the biggest issue, sat phones are not 100% reliable.
“IMPORTANT INFORMATION Concerning the Globalstar Satellite Constellation
Two-Way Voice and Duplex Data Services - Temporary Limitations
As previously announced, many Globalstar satellites are experiencing an anomaly resulting in degraded performance of the amplifiers for the S-band satellite communications antenna. The anomaly is adversely affecting two-way voice and data services. Customer service continues to be available, but at certain times at any given location it may take substantially longer to establish calls and the duration of calls may be limited. Until the new second-generation Globalstar satellite constellation is operational, Globalstar is offering its customers a web-based Call Times Tool, on its customer Internet sites, which subscribers may use to predict when one or more unaffected satellites will be overhead at any specific geographic location.”
Just so you know, the second generation is not operational in the US. The issues started last year and their current status was updated on April 20<sup>th</sup> and it is still not operational. Not very good for first responders as they won’t be able to use the “web-based Call Times Tool” to check on their coverage.