Robustness and Resiliency in the IP transition

Last week Speed Matters posted a summary of one the Benton Foundation’s 10 principles from The New Network Compact: Making The IP Transition Work For Vulnerable Communities, ubiquity.

This week writer Ted Gotsch posted Principles for a Successful IP Transition: Robustness and Resiliency. This time he looks at the necessary ability of any new technology to operate during emergencies.

The need for adding robustness and resiliency is essential. Said Gotsch:

“Advocates for people with disabilities, seniors and those living in rural areas identify public safety as a top concern for the populations they serve, and they raise questions about whether Internet Protocol (IP) networks would function during disasters, noting that when it comes to emergency situations, wireless networks, in particular, aren’t as accurate at pinpointing a location as a phone using the PSTN (public switched telephone network).”

Gotsch quotes FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler who agrees with these concerns. “We must have the ability to summon emergency help,” said Wheeler, “to coordinate an emergency response, and to do so via a network that is as secure as possible from cyber attacks.”

Speed Matters considers a strong, hardened telecommunications system is indispensible for the country and all its residents.

The ubiquity principle in the IP transition (Speed Matters, Jan. 10, 2014)

Principles for a Successful IP Transition: Robustness and Resiliency (Ted Gotsch, Benton, Jan. 14, 2014)