James,
The cause of the recent cell phone outage in Kentucky isn’t being stated, but they are appearing to distance themselves from an CME or EMP event. Nevertheless, how much preparedness do most of these AT&T users demonstrate? (This could of course happen with any carrier.) One of my employees who has an AT&T phone said the only number her school age son has to reach her is her cell number, as an example. Why her son can’t have her work number I have no idea. An embedded terrorist cell springing into action and striking a school during such an event would evoke even greater terror than during a normal day.
That cell phones not working led to the 911 [police/fire emergency telephone service] being overwhelmed is laughable on an ordinary day like this. Should this happen on a broad basis, or during a natural [disaster or other large scale] emergency then the consequences would be significant. And, gasp police had to use their radios instead of their iPhones.
Best Regards, – G.