Research Reports

Commercial Mobile Telephone Services and the Canadian Emergency Management Community: Prospects and Challenges for the Coming Decade

Authors:
Peter S. Anderson and Gordon A. Gow
Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology
Simon Fraser University
515 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C.
V6B 5K3

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Executive Summary¹

Over the next five to ten years, new commercial wireless technologies will dramatically reshape emergency management in Canada. New mobile telecommunications products and services have become important communications tools within the emergency management and public safety communities, offering cost-effective and flexible alternatives to traditional land mobile radio systems. The potential benefits of commercial mobile telephone systems are far from assured, however, as numerous technical, regulatory, and economic uncertainties remain to be resolved. This report describes the growing role of commercial mobile telephone services in emergency management, examines the potential vulnerability of mobile telephone networks to natural hazards, and identifies a number of important concerns relevant to emergency preparedness planning in Canada.

The recent and dramatic growth of commercial mobile telephone technology in Canada is being driven by a deregulated telecommunications sector, in conjunction with rapid technological innovation and widespread consumer acceptance. From a technical standpoint, these developments are creating interoperable networks comprised of a complicated array of interconnected infrastructures. From an industry and regulatory standpoint, telecommunications is shifting from a monopoly-based tradition into a dynamic marketplace following the adoption of a competitive policy framework by Industry Canada and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Commercial mobile telephone services represent a leading edge of this new communications environment and are now available in every major population centre of Canada, with market penetration continuing at an astounding rate. Many organizations in the emergency management community have already adopted mobile telephones for routine business communications. Further innovation in wireless technology is expected to lower costs of mobile telephone service and to dramatically expand the current range of consumer products and services.

Following from these and other developments, mobile telecommunications products and services will soon include a wide range of sophisticated voice and data applications suited to emergency management activities, creating opportunities for improved emergency communications. Already, mobile telephone systems are capable of providing services that do not currently exist in conventional land mobile radio, such as advanced text messaging, and it is conceivable that increasing amounts of mission critical emergency traffic are likely to flow over these public networks. Numerous public safety organizations at all levels of government already consider mobile telephones a significant component of their overall communications strategy.

In many cases, unfortunately, adoption of the mobile telephone is done for convenience and cost benefits, rather than as part of a strategic decision making process flowing from a well-defined technology assessment. As a result, very little is known about the actual utility of mobile telephones during widespread public emergencies. Natural hazards, for instance, pose a significant threat to the mobile telecommunications infrastructure. Evidence drawn from the Red River Flood (1997), the Quebec Ice Storm (1998), and the Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan (1999) indicate that mobile telephone systems are extremely vulnerable to natural hazards in a number of significant ways. This suggests that emergency response activities may be hindered by loss of performance in mobile telephone systems due to infrastructure damage, loss of power, congestion and/or other forms of service degradation. As such, there is an immediate need to educate emergency planners about the potential vulnerability of mobile telecommunications networks. A long-term strategy should emphasize mitigation initiatives aimed at resolving vulnerability concerns through the cooperative efforts of industry, government, and emergency planners.

This report offers a "first brush" examination of the increasing importance of wireless telecommunications in Canadian emergency management activities and, in particular, the growing dependency on public mobile telephone systems. Major findings and recommendations fall into three general categories: (1) education and awareness in the mobile telephone user-community; (2) vulnerability analysis of mobile telephone systems, and (3) policy issues and concerns.

Specifically, there is a need to:

• educate emergency management officials about mobile telephone technology, to ensure appropriate use and selection of available technology and service providers;
• provide support for the development of a standardized methodology to improve emergency communications planning with respect to the use of mobile telephone networks during emergencies;
• clarify and resolve Priority Access Dialing (PAD) and other call completion issues as they pertain to mobile telecommunications networks; and
• consider an overarching policy framework for emergency telecommunications that will include mobile telecommunications within an integrated program of long-term risk reduction

Acknowledgments

This publication has been prepared by:

Office of Critical
Infrastructure Protection and
Emergency Preparedness

2nd Floor, Jackson Bldg.
122 Bank St.
Ottawa, ON K1A 0W6
Tel: (613) 944-4875
Toll Free: 1-800-830-3118
Fax: (613) 998-9589
Email: communications@ocipep-bpiepc.gc.ca
Internet: www.ocipep-bpiepc.gc.ca

This material is based upon work supported by the Directorate of Research and Development (DRD) in the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP), formerly Emergency Preparedness Canada, under Contract Reference No. 1999D005. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness.

©Minister of Public Works and Government Services
Catalogue No.: D82-62/2002E-IN
ISBN: 0-662-32082-4