Data from the
On Wednesday, some Democratic lawmakers revealed legislation to force telecommunication companies to have at least 72 hours of back-up power for all cellphone towers in high-risk fire areas. Telecom companies would have to pay for it, but the bill would not stop companies from passing along those costs to their customers.
The outages affected more than just cellphones. Data shows traditional landlines and cable phone customers also lost service during the blackout. That means some people couldn't call 911 or receive emergency notifications, compounding the dangers associated with an unprecedented power outage in an era dominated by the internet and wireless communications.
“This bill is not about checking your
The federal government tried to mandate backup power for cellphone towers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The industry successfully fought it.
“It is unfair and unreasonable for the Legislature and the (state regulators) to allow the electric utilities to de-energize their networks and expect that the communications network is going to become a wholesale replacement for power,” said
Asked if he expects a fight from the industry, McGuire replied: “Hell yes."
McGuire announced his bill on the same day representatives from
In November, lawmakers questioned executives from the state's largest investor-owned utilities, including the leadership of troubled
Telecommunications outages have worsened as wildfires have become more common and more destructive. A report from the
Most recently, the
On Wednesday,
Also, telecommunications companies had trouble getting enough generators in place for the power shutoffs last fall. Many had to come from out of state, but the trucks delivering them were stopped at the state border because they did not meet the state's emission standards, said
In advance comments to the legislative committee,
“We are committed to providing communication services that the public and public safety agencies can rely on,” Luong said.
“Engagement and delivery of real time information during this critical period was simply not existent," she said. “The companies themselves must improve.”
Last year, the Legislature passed a law requiring telecommunications companies to report large outages to the
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