POWER MANAGEMENT FOR NETWORKS UNDER REVIEW AFTER BLACKOUT

“We are really going to have to keep a focus, a homeland security focus, on demand growth and demand spikes in the wireless sector as a consequence of consumers seeing it as the first device of choice when something goes wrong and you need to notify people at home,” Powell said. “I think that’s a lesson both for our agency in terms of spectrum needs for the future but I also think it’s something the industry will need to start factoring in as part of their demand projection.” Powell suggested it might help to have a representative from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission participate in NRIC. He also stressed his interest in seeing NRIC’s “best practices,” which telecom carriers could use to restore their networks if harmed by an attack, remain voluntary.

The Northeast blackout marked the first big test for the wireless priority service (WPS), which gives priority on mobile networks to national security and emergency personnel in emergencies. Katharine Burton, asst. deputy mgr. of the National Communications System (NCS), which is part of the Dept. of Homeland Security, said the WPS system worked, but would have worked better if users had access to all the wireless carriers. GSM carrier T-Mobile USA is the only wireless carrier that has a contract with NCS to provide that service. Only 48 WPS calls were made during the blackout -- 12 in Washington and 36 in the N.Y. metro area, including N.J. Lessons learned included finding gaps in training of WPS users as to the system’s current capabilities compared with those that will come online in the future, Burton said. One feature that some callers tried to use in N.Y. that wasn’t yet in place was to call other WPS callers. She said one factor the system had to contend with was that many cell towers had only 2 to 4 hours of backup battery power.

“We're only in the initial operational capability [IOC] of that program right now,” Burton said. “We won’t reach FOC [full operational capability] for a couple of years.” In briefing materials, she said the initial capability of IOC’s providing priority to a cell tower offered “little improvement during periods of widespread congestion.” Among changes needed in light of the blackout, she said, are: (1) Modifications to the telecommunications electric service priority program that NCS has with Dept. of Energy (DoE). The program is voluntary now but, because it needs to be mandatory, NCS will be working with DoE on that effort. (2) A review of the need to have WPS offered by all the national wireless carriers. (3) A need for additional training for WPS users because currently it doesn’t emphasize current abilities that are in place.

“Despite what press reports may have indicated, commercial wireless networks remained operational throughout the outage, although call volumes were high, which did lead to network congestion,” CTIA Vp-Industry Operations Kathryn Condello said. “Cellsites lost power due to the extended nature of the outage. But wireless companies maintained and restored service through backup and alternative power sources.” In the first 3 hours of the blackout, carriers saw demand spikes 500% higher than a normal “busy” hour, she said, but more than 2/3 of the network was uninterrupted throughout the outage. Some individual cellsite operations had spotty coverage in the early morning after the blackout as backup batteries ran down and portable generators were being redeployed, she said. “Networks were reconfigured centrally to ensure continued operation while technical teams brought auxiliary power to the impacted sites,” she said.

Network reliability was built into wireless networks based on the “reliability of other sectors’ infrastructures,” Condello said. “Now that the unthinkable has happened, the wireless sector is actively reviewing its assumptions about the electrical sector and the implications that it would have for our power management and restoration practices.” Through its participation as a sector coordinator in NRIC, Condello said CTIA would work with its electrical sector counterpart when information about the cause of the blackout became available.

Power expertise related to network management hasn’t been as hot an area as photonics and fiber engineering, said AT&T’s P.J. Aduskevicz, chair of the Network Reliability Steering Committee. Possible areas related to network power for review as part of NRIC best practices, she said, are: (1) To assess risk for the need to enhance backup power at cell towers, cable networks, CLECs and other facilities, with possible considerations including fuel cell technology. (2) To consider the outreach of sharing best practices in the electric power sector. (3) To educate consumers on the benefits of having a corded phone powered from a central office.

The outages also highlighted the need to examine the extent to which handheld Blackberry devices were relied on when callers couldn’t get through on traditional networks, including wireless systems, NCS’s Burton said. Her agency is interested in examining ways for a priority system similar to that of WPS could be used in a Blackberry context for IP networks, she said. “It will be a technical challenge, that’s for sure,” Burton acknowledged. “I just watched my friend from Cisco flinch,” quipped Qwest Chmn. Richard Notebaert, who also chairs the NRIC.

One concern is that the NRIC “best practices” have been so well received that there is some govt. interest in making them a requirement for telecom operators, said Karl Rauscher, Lucent’s dir.-network reliability office. He said he was heartened by Powell’s interest in the FCC keeping the best practices voluntary. “The best practices development process is not one that is designed to make laws,” Rauscher said. “Now we're in a situation where people say, ‘Hey, these are so great, why not make them laws.’ There is increasing concern right now that there are government entities that may mandate these best practices.”

“I know a number of you are concerned about the potential for mandatory implementation of NRIC best practices,” Powell said at the start of Mon.’s meeting. “I am going to be very clear about where I stand on this point as it relates to the FCC. The diversity of our industry does not lend itself to the indiscriminate application of a monolithic set of best practices dictated from your regulator.” They're being applied most effectively by leaving specific implementation decisions up to individual companies, Powell said. NRIC has adopted best practices aimed at avoiding terrorist attacks on networks by plugging vulnerabilities (CD Dec 9 p1). A package adopted in March has more than 200 best practices. NRIC is an advisory committee to the FCC that includes representatives of the wireless, wireline, satellite, cable and Internet sectors.