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Cellular outage in U.S. hits AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users

cnbc.com

341–350 of 486 posts

Re: Cellular outage in U.S. hits AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users

#341
post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a communication like this should include that they are investigating the root cause (assuming they aren’t completely sure) and that they will share it, and state where. Maybe im reading to much into it but it bothers me that thats not in the communication.

I think the telecom issue playbook is significantly different than the SaaS playbook. Not sure if that’s just cultural or if there are other drivers - maybe paying customer telecom interfaces are simpler and more closed than typical SaaS?

IME, telecom as an industry is highly focused on the RCA, ICA, and uptime, and has had that embedded culturally for decades. Sharing the information publicly doesn't have much value, in the balance, unless there are a string of incidents where an acute perception problem needs to be addressed. This would more likely result in a marketing and advertising strategy rather than the sharing of technical RCA details. Additionally, one must consider that not all RCA details are fit for public disclosure. _You_ may be interested in deets, but John Q. Public is not interested beyond "Is it fixed yet?". If you want insider perspective, work in/with the industry. It's fascinating stuff.

Re: Cellular outage in U.S. hits AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users

#345
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it does. Family member in the medical field is experiencing issues.

Dang that's a bad look for them. Hopefully they can provide a thoughtful and honest postmortem.

>medical field

>postmortem

Let's hope that everyone lived so a postmortem won't be necessary :)

Re: Cellular outage in U.S. hits AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users

#346

Something I'm not seeing discussion on: What is/were the cascading effects of this, particularly for drivers? Many people in buildings were unaffected, as they could fallback to wifi. But I imagine this had a pretty broad impact to drivers. Just a few things I can think of: - Packages delayed (UPS, FedEx, Amazon, truck drivers, etc.) for drivers that relied on their phone's mapping apps to get them to their deliverie…

>> Traffic worsened because drivers weren't able to optimize their routes

I'm not sure that is a thing. The vast majority of drivers are on familiar routes and are not navigating via electronic means.

Better question: How are the autonomous cars doing? Are they parked by the side of the road unable to navigate without cell coverage.

Re: Cellular outage in U.S. hits AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users

#347

This is a serious architectural flaw. In the entire history of electromechanical switching in the Bell System, no central office was ever out of service for more than 30 minutes for any reason other than a natural disaster, or, on one single occasion, a major fire in NYC. The AT&T Long Lines system in the 1960s and 1970s had ten regional centers, all independent and heavily interconnected. There was a control center,…

The complexity and scale of moderns systems are on another scale of magnitude.

Re: Cellular outage in U.S. hits AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users

#348

Something I'm not seeing discussion on: What is/were the cascading effects of this, particularly for drivers? Many people in buildings were unaffected, as they could fallback to wifi. But I imagine this had a pretty broad impact to drivers. Just a few things I can think of: - Packages delayed (UPS, FedEx, Amazon, truck drivers, etc.) for drivers that relied on their phone's mapping apps to get them to their deliverie…

>> Traffic worsened because drivers weren't able to optimize their routes I'm not sure that is a thing. The vast majority of drivers are on familiar routes and are not navigating via electronic means. Better question: How are the autonomous cars doing? Are they parked by the side of the road unable to navigate without cell coverage.

It only takes a few people missing an exit and swerving to create a bunch of traffic. So many people are used to not navigating manually anymore I can’t imagine it doesn’t have a big effect.

Re: Cellular outage in U.S. hits AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users

#349

Something I'm not seeing discussion on: What is/were the cascading effects of this, particularly for drivers? Many people in buildings were unaffected, as they could fallback to wifi. But I imagine this had a pretty broad impact to drivers. Just a few things I can think of: - Packages delayed (UPS, FedEx, Amazon, truck drivers, etc.) for drivers that relied on their phone's mapping apps to get them to their deliverie…

>> Traffic worsened because drivers weren't able to optimize their routes I'm not sure that is a thing. The vast majority of drivers are on familiar routes and are not navigating via electronic means. Better question: How are the autonomous cars doing? Are they parked by the side of the road unable to navigate without cell coverage.

> The vast majority of drivers are on familiar routes and are not navigating via electronic means.

I've been rerouted due to an accident many times, and I've seen the detours get backed up because of people taking more optimal routes (without traffic being redirected via other means).

I'd be curious to see more data on it, but I would speculate it's less than the "vast majority".

> Better question: How are the autonomous cars doing? Are they parked by the side of the road unable to navigate without cell coverage.

Yeah, that falls under my point about Uber/Lyft/taxis. I would speculate there is broader impact from those vs. autonomous cars (that are probably still relatively uncommon).

Re: Cellular outage in U.S. hits AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon users

#350
post #347

This is a serious architectural flaw. In the entire history of electromechanical switching in the Bell System, no central office was ever out of service for more than 30 minutes for any reason other than a natural disaster, or, on one single occasion, a major fire in NYC. The AT&T Long Lines system in the 1960s and 1970s had ten regional centers, all independent and heavily interconnected. There was a control center,…

The complexity and scale of moderns systems are on another scale of magnitude.

This is no justification. They should have another scale of resilience.
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