Technology

Internet Outages Reveal Gaps in US Broadband Infrastructure

Published

10 years ago

March 28, 2015

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2015, file photo, Zak Holland opens up a computer at a store on the Northern Arizona University campus in Flagstaff, Ariz., as much of the region was experiencing an Internet and phone outage that was linked to vandalism of a fiber-optic line. The outages have revealed what experts acknowledge is a glaring vulnerability for parts of the high-speed Internet highway in the U.S. that has become so essential for daily life. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca, File)

In this Feb. 25, 2015, file photo, Zak Holland opens up a computer at a store on the Northern Arizona University campus in Flagstaff, Ariz., as much of the region was experiencing an Internet and phone outage that was linked to vandalism of a fiber-optic line. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca, File)

Felicia Fonseca and David A. Lieb, ASSOCIATED PRESS

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — When vandals sliced a fiber-optic cable in the Arizona desert last month, they did more than time-warp thousands of people back to an era before computers, credit cards or even phones. They exposed a glaring vulnerability in the nation’s Internet infrastructure: no backup systems in many places.

Because Internet service is largely unregulated by the federal government and the states, decisions about network reliability are left to the service providers. Industry analysts say these companies generally do not build alternative routes, or redundancies, unless they believe it is worthwhile financially.

The result: While most major metropolitan areas in the U.S. have backup systems, some smaller cities and many rural areas do not.

“The more rural the location, the more likely that there’s only one road in and out of that location,” said Sean Donelan, a former infrastructure security manager in the U.S. Homeland Security Department who now works for a cybersecurity firm. “If someone manages to cut that fiber, you’ll generally see a one- or two- or three-day outage.”

Despite its own warnings about such vulnerabilities two decades ago, the federal government has taken no steps to require Internet companies to have backup systems, even as it has provided billions of dollars in subsidies to expand broadband Internet into unserved areas.

“Our first responsibility is to make sure that people actually have service,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, co-chairman of President Barack Obama’s newly created Broadband Opportunity Council.

In northern Arizona last month, tens of thousands of residents were without Internet service — some for up to 15 hours — after vandals cut through an underground bundle of fiber-optic cables owned by CenturyLink. ATMs went down, stores couldn’t process credit cards, college students in Flagstaff had to put their research on hold, and even 911 emergency service was lost.

Earlier this month, several thousand people lost Internet and phone service for half a day when an electric company crew accidentally cut a fiber-optic line in northern New Mexico.

When an underwater fiber-optic cable became wrapped around a big rock and broke in 2013, some residents of Washington state’s San Juan Islands were without Internet and telephone service for 10 days.

Among them was aerospace consultant Mike Loucks, who said he was shocked to find out his home phone, cellphone and Internet service did not work independently of each other. All went down because they relied on the same cable. He ended up taking a ferry to the mainland to dial in to conference calls from his car outside a McDonald’s.

“When I figured out what all had been routed to this cable, it’s a single-point failure thing,” he said. “That’s pretty dumb. Why don’t you guys have a backup cable?”

He was so frustrated that he switched Internet providers.

CenturyLink, the broadband provider in the Arizona and Washington outages, declined to make officials available for an interview about its Internet infrastructure. But spokeswoman Linda Johnson said in an email that the company acts quickly to restore service and “is constantly investing in its local network and strives to deliver new services and build redundancy where possible.”

After the San Juan Islands outage, CenturyLink spent $500,000 to install a microwave system that now backs up the underwater cable. A microwave system is wireless technology that relies on a series of above-ground antennas or towers to transmit data. It’s more often used in rural areas.

Companies have been deploying more than 10 million miles of fiber annually in the U.S., increasing the risk of damage from backhoes, trench-diggers and shovels, according to an analysis by a network reliability committee of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions. The number of outages on high-capacity fiber-optic lines in the U.S. more than doubled from 221 in 2010 to 487 last year, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Fiber-optic cables form the spine of the Internet. A fiber bundle contains dozens of tiny glass fibers — each about the width of a human hair — that use light waves to transmit data. The fibers often are buried along existing rights of way for highways, railroads or pipelines. It is common for a telecommunications company to install the cables and then lease space on them to others.

That saves money for everyone involved. But it also means outages can affect a wide variety of services.

As early as 1995, the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology warned that the “power of optical fiber technology is diminishing the number of geographic transmission routes,” concentrating the flow of information and “resulting in an increase in network vulnerability.”

Since 2009, the U.S. Agriculture and Commerce departments have provided about $10 billion in grants and loans to expand broadband Internet access. The departments said recipients were encouraged but not required to build redundancies into their projects.

The FCC says about half the rural U.S. lacks access to high-speed Internet service. It plans to distribute about $20 billion over the next five years to support rural broadband. It does not require recipients to build network backup systems against outages.

The funding “is designed to expand broadband to as many rural Americans as possible while not increasing the cost of the program” to customers, FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield said.

The FCC recently increased its oversight of Internet providers by classifying them as “telecommunications services” that must operate in the public interest. But that doesn’t carry any new mandate for Internet network redundancies, because such backups aren’t required of phone companies, he said.

Some states have laws specifically barring the regulation of Internet service, and it’s outside the jurisdiction of many state utility regulatory agencies.

Washington state Rep. Jeff Morris, who represents the San Juan Islands and is chairman of the House Technology and Economic Development Committee, said lawmakers are hesitant to require redundant lines for fear they will lead to higher Internet and phone bills for their constituents. His colleagues have discussed taxing access to Internet services, but that is prohibited by federal law.

“It really spoils our ability to generate revenue to give better service and reliability to our constituents,” he said.

Some state officials are nonetheless trying to nudge Internet providers to develop backup plans.

“Dependability is premier to the Internet these days,” said Sandy Jones, a member of New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission. “Redundancy — two paths out, three paths out — is really critical for businesses. Just think of restaurants, gas stations, all the things that shut down when there’s no Internet line.”

___

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.

___

Follow David A. Lieb at https://twitter.com/DavidLieb and Felicia Fonseca at https://twitter.com/FonsecaAP .
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Activism

Self-eSTEM Empowers BIPOC Women, Girls in Science, Math

In January 2025, Self-eSTEM will launch digital and generative AI programming, which provides digital literacy and AI literacy training through an entrepreneurial project-based activity. This programming will be a hybrid (i.e. in-person and online). Additionally, thanks to a grant from Comcast, in spring 2025, the organization will have a co-ed series for middle and high school students.

Published

4 months ago

December 9, 2024

Oakland Post

Adamaka Ajaelo. Courtesy photo.

By Y’Anad Burrell
Special to The Post

In a world where technology plays an increasingly central role in all aspects of life, the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education cannot be overstated. Recognizing the significance of STEM for the future, focusing on young women and girls is a critical step in achieving gender equality and empowering the next generation.

Self-eSTEM, an Oakland-based non-profit organization, was founded by Adamaka Ajaelo, an Oakland native who had a successful corporate career with several Bay Area technology and non-tech companies. Ajaelo boldly decided to step away from these companies to give 100% of her time and talent to the non-profit organization she started in 2014 in the belief that she can change the game in innovation and future STEM leaders.

Over the course of a decade, Ajaelo has provided futurist tech programming to more than 2,000 BIPOC women and girls. The organization has an Early STEM Immersion Program for ages 7-17, Emerging Leaders Workshops for ages 18-25 and volunteer network opportunities for ages 25 and up.

While the organization’s programs center on innovation and technology, participants also gain other valuable skills critical for self-development as they prepare for a workforce future. “Self-eSTEM encourages young women to expand on teamwork, communication, creativity, and problem-solving skills. The organization allows young women to enter STEM careers and pathways,” said Trinity Taylor, a seventh-year innovator.

“Our journey over the last decade is a testament to the power of community and opportunity, and I couldn’t be more excited for what the future holds as we continue to break barriers and spark dreams,” said Ajaelo.

“By encouraging girls to explore STEM fields from a young age, we foster their intellectual growth and equip them with the tools needed to thrive in a competitive global economy,” Ajaelo says.

Empowering young girls through STEM education is also a key driver of innovation and progress. When young women and girls are encouraged to pursue careers in STEM, they bring unique perspectives and problem-solving approaches to the table, leading to more diverse and inclusive solutions. This diversity is crucial for driving creativity and pushing boundaries in scientific and technological advancements.

Self-eSTEM has fundraising opportunities year-round, but year-end giving is one of the most critical times to support the program. Visit www.selfestem.org to donate to the organization, as your generosity and support will propel programming support for today’s innovators.

You will also find more details about Self-eSTEM’s programs on their website and social channels @selfestemorg

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Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

Feds: California Will Be Home to New National Semiconductor Technology Center

California was chosen by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and Natcast, the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) to be home to the headquarters for the National Semiconductor Technology Center – as part of the Biden-Harris Admin’s CHIPS and Science Act. The CHIPS for America Design and Collaboration Facility (DCF) will be one of three CHIPS for America research and design (R&D) facilities and will also operate as the headquarters for the NTSC and Natcast.

Published

5 months ago

November 6, 2024

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By Antonio Ray Harvey

The CHIPS for America Design and Collaboration Facility (DCF) will be one of three CHIPS for America research and design (R&D) facilities and will also operate as the headquarters for the NTSC and Natcast.

“We are thrilled that the Department of Commerce and Natcast chose to locate this critically important facility in Sunnyvale, the heart of the Silicon Valley, alongside the world’s largest concentration of semiconductor businesses, talent, intellectual property, and investment activity,” said Dee Dee Myers, Senior Economic Advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom and Director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). “The Newsom Administration and our partners across the industry know how important it is to shorten the timeframe from R&D to commercialization.”

According to GO-Biz, the DCF is expected to direct over $1 billion in research funding and create more than 200 employees in the next decade. The facility will serve as the center for advanced semiconductor research in chip design, electronic design automation, chip and system architecture, and hardware security. The CHF will be essential to the country’s semiconductor workforce development efforts.

As detailed in the released NSTC Strategic Plan, the DCF will suppress the obstacles to “semiconductor prototyping, experimentation,” and other R&D activities that will enhance the country’s global power and leadership in design, materials, and process innovation while enabling a vigorous domestic industr“Establishing the NSTC headquarters and design hub in California will capitalize on our state’s unparalleled assets to grow a highly skilled workforce and develop next-generation advancements,” stated U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). “This CHIPS Act funding will propel emerging technologies and protect America’s global semiconductor leadership, all while bringing good-paying jobs to our state.”

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Advanced Conductors Provide Path for Grid Expansion

Utility companies in the United States could double electric transmission capacity by 2035 by replacing existing transmission lines with those made from advanced materials, according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Published

5 months ago

October 29, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy UC Berkeley News.

By Matthew Burciaga

UC Berkeley News

Led by Duncan Callaway, professor and chair of the Energy and Resources Group (ERG), and Amol Phadke, an affiliate and senior scientist at the Goldman School of Public Policy, the first-of-its-kind study details a faster and more cost-effective way to expand the grid and connect the more than 1,200 gigawatts of renewable energy projects awaiting approval. The analysis was first published last December as a working paper by the Energy Institute at Haas and has been covered by the New York Times, the Washington Post, Heatmap News, and other news outlets.

“Expanding transmission capacity is critical to decarbonization, and we sought to study ways to build it faster and cheaper,” said Callaway.

It currently takes 10 to 15 years to build a new power line and the U.S. is building transmission lines at a lower rate than it was in the past decade. Without sufficient capacity, renewable energy projects often sit in limbo for years as transmission operators study what upgrades—if any—are needed to accommodate the increased loads.

The authors modeled various scenarios to determine if replacing existing transmission conductors with those made with advanced composite-core materials—a process known as reconductoring—could provide a pathway to faster grid expansion.

Several reconductoring projects have been initiated in Belgium and the Netherlands, and utility companies in the U.S. have used the material to string transmission lines across wide spans like river crossings. That technology, however, has not made its way to the majority of overhead power lines that feed residential and commercial customers.

“As we learned more about the technology, we realized that no one had done the detailed modeling needed to understand the technology’s potential for large-scale transmission capacity increases,” said Phadke.

Based on the authors’ projections, it is cheaper—and quicker—for utility companies to replace the 53,000 existing transmission lines with advanced composite-core materials than it is to build entirely new transmission lines.

They assert that doing so would reduce wholesale electricity costs by 3% to 4% on average—translating to $85 billion in system cost savings by 2035 and $180 billion by 2050.

“The level of interest we’ve received from federal and state agencies, transmission companies and utilities is extremely encouraging, and since our initial report, the Department of Energy has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to reconductoring projects,” said co-author Emilia Chojkiewicz, a PhD student in ERG and an affiliate of the Goldman School of Public Policy. “We are looking forward to learning about these projects as they unfold.”

Additional co-authors include Nikit Abhyankar and Umed Paliwal, affiliates at the Goldman School of Public Policy; and Casey Baker and Ric O’Connell of GridLab, a nonprofit that provides comprehensive technical grid expertise to policy makers and advocates.