10-31-2012
This is going to give broadcasters more ammo to push for the FM cell phone chip. That is, if they continue to be aggressive in promoting the benefits to consumers. During a conference call Tuesday, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said 25% of wireless cell towers and a quarter of cable services in 10 states were knocked out as a result of the Hurricane. Genachowski also said service would get worse before it got better.
Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA all reported problems. The cellphone issues covered 158 counties from Virginia to Massachusetts.
Genachowski asked the public to limit "non-essential" calls and to text, e-mail or use social media to communicate with family and friends instead of calling. Radio stations in the heart of the storm had wall-to-wall coverage of the storm, providing vital information to communities. When stations, such as 1010 WINS in New York City went down due to damaged equipment, they quickly went to an FM (music) frequency to continue broadcasting. The station could also be heard live online without interruption.A fully powered cell phone with an FM chip broadcasting local stations could have kept those residents who lost power and cell phone service fully informed as Sandy made its way through the storm zone. A chip broadcasting local stations does not use the data network.
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