There are two distinct phases of keeping a community safe: public safety and disaster response. The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) has released a white paper making the case that fiber is at the heart of both.
Public safety refers to efforts to prevent or limit danger before an emergency occurs. It’s arguable that disaster response can be further divided into two parts, with disaster recovery being longer term. That doesn’t change FBA’s point that fiber is a significant element of reducing danger and speeding a community’s rebound.
The white paper, titled “Fiber for Public Safety: How Broadband Infrastructure Protects Communities Before, During, and After Disasters,” presents case studies from Siskiyou Telephone in California; Douglas Fast Net in Oregon; Hawaiian Telecom in Hawaii; United Communications in Tennessee; and PeachNet in Georgia.
The white paper suggests that fiber broadband is the best overall solution for three reasons. The first is that it is more reliable, has greater capacity and lower latency than other communications platforms. Fiber is also more resistant to congestion, weather and line-of-sight limitations. And, finally, fiber is better positioned to support emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and — though the white paper doesn’t mention it — the Internet of Things.
“Emerging technologies like fiber optic sensing push this even further,” the white paper says. “Using existing fiber, agencies can detect events such as ground movement, utility disruptions, or even traffic flow in real time- shifting from reaction to anticipation. In this way, fiber enables faster response times while also ensuring that when disaster does strike, communications don’t collapse.”
Of course, fiber alone does not keep a community safe. Last month, The Wireless Broadband Association released a trio of reports aimed at providing a framework for how Wi-Fi, Passpoint, and OpenRoaming services “can facilitate and sustain emergency calling and priority communications around the world.
The reports were developed by the organization’s Mission Critical & Emergency Services Program. They are “Mission Critical & Emergency Services Cellular Emergency Calling over OpenRoaming\Wi-Fi Networks,” “Mission Critical & Emergency Services National Security & Emergency Preparedness,” and “Mission Critical & Emergency Services.”
Last week, the FBA released its twentieth annual report on the impact of broadband. The report, created in association with RVA LLC Market Research, focused on the importance of broadband to everyday life. It found 80% of adults find high quality internet very important to their household and rate it as one of the most important amenities.
