As California Mother of the Year, I am outraged about how cell phones failed during last month’s PG&E outages. Cell phone companies should have backup power and solutions for power outages. Earthquakes, fires, and other natural disasters are going to become regular occurrences – thanks to the climate crisis – and as an industry that services everyone from life-saving doctors to emergency dispatchers to people who rely on medical devices, CELL PHONE COMPANIES NEED TO SUPPLY SERVICE, ESPECIALLY DURING POWER OUTAGES.
I am organizing Micro Communities where neighbors work together to make sure everyone is okay and to get help for those who are not. Each Micro Community leader works with their local fire departments to keep them abreast of problems so fire chiefs can better assess disasters and get word out to residents about evacuation plans specific to their areas. Cell phone coverage is essential in our communication.
I certainly hope that cell phone companies are implementing solutions to power outages and maintaining their equipment, unlike PG&E. One benefit we have is the ability to change cell phone carriers – something we don’t have with PG&E. Check with your cell phone provider to demand cell coverage during power outages, or tell them you’ll find a provider that will. Money talks.
[Source]