AT&T prepares for disaster with San Jose recovery exercise
The Tech Chronicles - San Francisco ChroniclePosted By: Ryan Kim (Email) | July 09 2010 at 03:23 PM
AT&T has set up camp in a San Jose hotel parking lot to show how fast they can restore network service in the event of a disaster.
The demonstration exercise, which runs through next week, will replicate the restoration of a central office that goes off line either through a natural disaster or man-made event. AT&T has hauled in more than 20 trailers and trucks that are capable of rerouting wired and wireless traffic.
The demonstration highlights the growing need for quick network recovery efforts, especially as we grow more reliant on mobile phones and Internet connections. In the post 9/11 era, it's also more critical that network operators learn to deal with potential terrorist threats in addition to earthquakes, wild fires and storms.
While the demonstration takes place in San Jose, it's meant to replace the functions of a small central office in San Francisco. Using a handful of technology trailers packed with telecom equipment, AT&T can connect to a fiber ring dozens of miles away from a downed office and recover traffic that would have flowed through that site.
The hope is to restore operations within one week though AT&T can often get service up and running within a few days in a major emergency. In the 9/ll attacks, AT&T took 53 hours to restore a basement center in downtown New York that was destroyed in the north tower of the World Trade Center.
AT&T is constantly monitoring storms and emergencies and can roll equipment from five locations around the country. Mobile operations can scale up to more than 40 pieces of equipment to restore service to a city the size of San Francisco.
The San Jose operation also includes satellite cell on light truck units, which can replace a downed cell site using a satellite link. The trucks can help restore cellular service to consumers or can provide prioritized access to emergency responders.
"As people become more dependent on technology, we want to get the network up as fast as we can after a disaster so people can start working as quickly as possible," said AT&T's Kevan Parker, who is leading the San Jose Network Disaster Recovery.
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