Radio and Other Telecommunication Failures

Primary reference(s)

Dainty, A., D. Moore and M. Murray, 2007. Communication in Construction: Theory and Practice. Routledge.

Additional scientific description

Radio and communication technology is integrated into everyday life and has significantly advanced in recent decades. Communication channels such as radio, cellular networks, and satellites aim to broadcast or convey information and warnings to populations. In a disaster response event, the goal of any communication system is to maximise the number of people who act on and take appropriate and timely actions for protecting property and ensuring life safety (Khaled and Mcheick, 2019).

Efficient and effective communication linkages are critical prior to, during and following a disaster event, particularly among emergency personnel to assist with disaster response and recovery. However, failure of communication systems, whether complete or partial such as radio or satellites systems has caused inefficiency and delays in emergency relief efforts and response, which leads in turn to loss of life and preventable injuries. Failure of communication systems can cause catastrophic damage to human life and economic activities as people are unable to communicate with each other in a timely manner and with a good quality of service (Khaled and Mcheick, 2019).

A notable example of radio and communications failure was caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami: A magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, generating tsunami waves with maximum heights ranging from 2 to 30 m, inundating the coastal areas of many surrounding countries. Although this event was the first global natural disaster where practitioners and the public mediated their experience of it through the internet, communication technology was not used to its fullest extent during the immediate response, which resulted in a lower delivery of humanitarian aid. The main reasons for the communication failure were the destruction of technology infrastructure, accumulated debris, and extensive flooding that affected the power systems and cabins that contain the base transceiver station (BTS) equipment. There were also other telecommunications limitations such as limited network coverage, lack of early warning systems, and lack of rescue equipment (Khaled and Mcheick, 2019).

Key reasons for communications systems failure include: damage and/or destruction of communication system components; damage and/or disruption in supporting network infrastructure; and disruption due to congestion.

Damage and/or destruction of communication system components is considered the most common and well-documented cause of telecommunications failures in recent disasters. Because of the time and funding needed to repair and replace systems, disruption caused by physical damage tends to be more severe and time-consuming to restore as it may require maintenance or replacement of complex hardware, particularly essential components such as cell towers or cables. The fragility of communication systems is due to the lack of a high degree of redundancy (Townsend and Moss, 2005).

Communication outages caused by damage and/or disruption in supporting network infrastructure tend to be far more widespread and damaging during response and recovery efforts. Some communication systems are reliant on many other local and regional technical systems to ensure effective operation. Supporting infrastructure often lacks resiliency to physical damage (Townsend and Moss, 2005).

Disruption due to congestion is another type of major communication failure during disaster and is a direct result of network congestion or overload, and results in blocked calls and messages unsent. Historically, disasters are one of the most intense generators of communications traffic, and the resulting surge of demand can clog even the most well-managed networks. However, communication can be restored relatively rapidly (Khaled and Mcheick, 2019).

Lessons identified from previous disaster events, conclude that radio and satellite-based communications were most effective, while conventional communications outlets (i.e. wireless phones and landlines) were either damaged or overwhelmed in many disaster events hindering the efficient and timely transfer of information (Khaled and Mcheick, 2019).

Metrics and numeric limits

Not measured globally.

Examples of drivers, outcomes and risk management

Developing and implementing common technical characteristics and guidelines for radio communication systems for early warning and disaster response and relief, would promote a common technical basis in planning for and responding effectively to an emergency. A guide to Radio Communications Standards for Emergency Responders was developed and prepared under the United Nations Development Program and the European Commission Humanitarian Office through the Disaster Preparedness Programme. The aim of the manual is providing a standard of operation and a guide for training message handling techniques and net procedures for Radio Emergency Service operators for national and local radio networks (UNDP, 2010). In 2017, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), developed an Emergency Telecommunications Handbook which presents a set of guidelines and detailed instructions to support teams facilitating and delivery of effective emergency telecommunications in the field. The handbook captures the nature of integration of various telecommunication systems (UNICEF, 2017).

In addition, the International Telecommunication Union has developed numerous resources including:

• Radio Regulations Navigation Tool (regulations that govern the global use of the radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits) (ITU, no date).
• Space Networks Systems Database of the Radiocommunication Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union. The database contains AP4 data of geostationary satellite filings, non-geostationary satellite filings and earth station filings (ITU, no date).
• Definitions of world telecommunication/ICT Indicators (ITU, no date).