While I think it's a great idea to provide more robust backup capability, with a large system like a cellular provider, I also have to wonder at what point things become economically counter-productive? I'm usually in favor of sensible regulation rather than industry "self-regulation" but I'm sensitive to the realities of running a business in a competitive environment. It's a different situation when a company is basically a monopoly.

This post reminded me of an old post of mine about a new technology called SkySite--using disposable balloons carrying portable cell sites as they drift over a state. In the original article, the company says that it can replace the 1,100 cell towers required to comprehensively cover a rural region with just 3 balloons aloft at one time.

Imagine a system where there's some widespread disaster like a hurricane or major earthquake. The wireless companies start deploying these balloons, providing 24 hour service that is completely independent of any damage, flooding, fires, etc. on the ground. I don't know if it's practical to try and totally replace the physical cell tower system with these balloons over a more densely populated area, but if say, the system is pre-programmed to only accept a small subset of phones used by first responders, emergency management, certain hospital staff, etc., I think the technology can already handle that load.

Another technology that has always interested me is "mesh" technology--or self-organizing networks. Imagine a situation where when cell towers are down and you're trying to send a text message to your wife, who is on a business trip, that you and kids are fine. With mesh technology, when you hit send, your phone will try to establish a connection first with a local tower, and if one isn't availabe, try to connect to another cell phone to pass the text message to. Your message will hop from phone to phone until a working cell tower is contacted, perhaps even outside the disaster area, and from that point, your message is delivered normally. Being a store-and-forward technology, if no tower or other cell phone is within range, your message is simply stored until something becomes available. Anyways, just a couple of alternative ideas.