The case for an EWN

Incumbent communication systems are vulnerable.

In the event of a crisis that effects entire geographic areas, incumbent communication systems are vulnerable on two main counts.

1. They are designed to handle average peak daily usage, not crisis volume usage. Just as the highway system relies on a predictable load but fails on overload or even rush hour, so too will land-lines, cellular mobile and satellite systems be jammed to a stand still when loaded by a large scale disaster that effects the public at large. In contrast, an EWN is set aside to service key public interest nodes only, prioritizing traffic to critical service points such as fire, law enforcement, hospitals and shelters. It will not be subjected to incapacitation from an overload by general public traffic.
2. In the event of a disaster that impacts the power grid, existing communication infrastructure relies on back up generators equipped to last 24 to typically at best 72 hours. In prolonged outages, land lines, cellular providers, commercial networks, satellite ground stations and internet providers will cease to operate at all. These are not hypothetical scenarios. An EWN is designed to operate from nominal battery power that can be replenished by sources such as solar or wind on a long term basis without any dependence on municipal power infrastructure.

Is there really no back up?

Currently, cities in Santa Clara County, as in most across the nation, rely on a staff of volunteer amateur radio operators (aka "ham radio") for fall back communications. Ham radio has been a resort for many decades because it can reach from point to point without the need for infrastructure in between. There are many ham operators with great interest in this kind of public service. Not coincidentally, the majority of the operators of SCEWN are licensed hams, often with many years of service in their local ARES/RACES team. That same experience is typically the source of their resolve to improve on the current system.

Read more about the comparison with ham radio.