Network redundancy takes on new meaning after 9-11

WASHINGTON—Speaking at this week’s Precursor Group investor conference, FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy said the events of Sept. 11 changed forever how the telecommunications industry should be looking at network redundancy.

“Prior to 9-11, we looked at these issues from the perspective of capacity and how to serve the customer, and not from the perspective of national security,” she said.

Abernathy called on the four major sectors of the industry--wireline, wireless, cable and satellite--to band together to create a network that is robust and physically dispersed to the point that, “if one part of the network were to go down, it wouldn’t bring down the rest of the network.”

Abernathy said the FCC understands that public safety and security going forward will depend in large measure on the commission’s ability to solve the spectrum-shortage crisis that currently grips the wireless sector. The FCC has had to postpone the auction in the 700 MHz band until 2004, because too much of the spectrum is encumbered and the commission won’t able to adequately clear the spectrum over the short term, Abernathy said.

While FCC Chairman Michael Powell and Abernathy are both on record in favor of less regulation, network and public security is one place the FCC might deviate from that position, said Abernathy.

“In a competitive environment, regulators tend to pull back, but when it comes to a question of security and network reliability, you may see the FCC step up to the plate,” she said.

FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin suggested the best approach to maximizing the redundancy of the nation’s telecommunications networks would be to remove the barriers that are preventing the development of facilities-based competition. He is also hopeful that new technologies will be developed that will aid the cause.

“Perhaps smart antennas that would use spectrum more efficiently will come to commercial application,” he said.

Abernathy said spectrum sharing also might be an option.

“We need engineers to step up,” she said.

Martin suggested the Internet could play a role.

“The idea behind the Internet is to spread packets amongst a number of networks, so if one was destroyed, you could still transport data,” Martin said.

According to Brett Azuma, a former telecom analyst at Gartner Dataquest and now senior vice president of marketing for IP Unity, the Internet was created initially for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to connect the department of defense to key universities.

“It was designed so that, if a node went down, you could route around it,” he said. In fact, added Azuma, the Internet was designed and constructed from the beginning to withstand nuclear attack.

Bruce Mehlman, assistant secretary for technology policy for the United States Department of Commerce, said voice-over-IP networks are ideally suited as a backup network, because they use bandwidth efficiently and “also are more secure due to encryption.”