AT&T today launched a series of portable emergency cell phone towers, called the "Remote Mobility Zone," which provide vital connections during disasters.
"In the pivotal first minutes of a natural or man-made disaster, AT&T Remote Mobility Zone provides a solution to help maintain critical mobile communications," said Chris Hill, AT&T's vice-president, in a statement.
The Remote Mobility Zone hints at a future where connectivity is even harder to disrupt than it is today, with portable emergency service filling in gaps caused by natural or man-made disasters. With the current ubiquity of GPS reception and the omnipresence of cell phones around the globe, it is easy to imagine, assume and take for granted constant connectivity -- and possibly become over-reliant on it.
But there's no doubt that maintaining cellular service in face of outages could save lives. The recent earthquake in Japan prompted Taiwanese scientists to create Mobile Savior, an app that pinpoints the location of people who may be trapped under rubble with their phones.
Of course the earthquake knocked out the island's cell towers, but combined with a portable cell sites, such an application might have been a literal savior.
The Remote Mobility Zone ranges from $15,000 to $45,000, making it more practical for businesses, governments, and NGOs than for individuals. The devices also need separate satellite dishes plus power sources to work. And for now, they will only work in the U.S. on GSM phones, managing a mere 28 concurrent calls.
Still, no price is too high for a reliable, if limited, cell phone connection, as this network has become indispensible in our daily lives and even more critical during emergencies.
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