James,
The cause of the recent cell phone outage in Kentucky [1] isn’t being stated, but they are appearing to distance themselves from an CME [2] or EMP [3] 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 [4] [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.