Hmm, I wonder how many metropolitan areas even have analog cellular service anymore? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is quite a small number by now. Just curious, jmacclau, but do you currently use an analog phone? If yes, are you in a rural area?

Even TDMA is an endangered species. Cingular is trying to dump its legacy TDMA network it acquired from AT&T as quickly as it can. It costs a lot of money to maintain two separate networks.

Cold Equations time.

If it is bad and they are that far away, write them off. You'll have more to do than worry about them, and after a week or so, they won't be showing up. Either they'll be out of gas and cash somewhere in the middle, dug in at home, or dead.

If they show up, great, celebrate. But unless you yourself can directly influence their ability to reach your location, there is nothing you can do. If they aren't within a few hundred miles, realistically they'll never get there it is very bad.

As for your European relatives, it there is a long term communication breakdown, they might as well be be in a different solar system.

I hate to sound mean or cold. But in a scenario so significant that there is a long term disruption of communication and trade, you can not help them. You can't change the weather either, only deal with it.

Re Ironraven



I don't really understand that assumption. Is it that most people in the United States assume that International telephone calls are made using Satellite communications. Most calls from the US to Europe use very robust and reliable submarine cables. These cables were first laid under the North Atlantic over 100 years ago by the United Kingdom. The rest of the world was connected up in a similar way, all the way through the middle east through India and Australia. A sort of World Wide Web for the British Empire. At the moment there is huge voice / data capacity under the Atlantic via submarine cables. In fact if there was a wide power outage across the world, someone in New York will probably have more success calling Edinburgh rather than Los Angles. It might be that the LA call from New York may have to be made the long way around.

Depending on where you are the phone service isn't all that reliable. I've reported both phone and power outages via the internet with my laptop and cable modem running from battery and apparently the other end on battery as well. Were in an area which used to be Ameritech, then SBC then AT&T and my phone lines are dead more than they work. We use our cell phones for most calls anymore.
I stick with Verizon cellular, even though they are more expensive they work in more places than anyone else and I always buy a tri mode phone which means it can do analog and have fallen back on analog calls more than once.

If I can't call 8 miles away, I'm pretty sure 8 time zones away it out of service to. If it stays out of service for a prolonged period, I'm going to forget about you all over there.

It might be a good idea to find out who your local HAM operators are, and become acquainted.

If you really do need to get a message out of the area, they may be willing to help you. Or not. If your problem is relatively local, siphon a gallon or two of gas out of your car (or someone else's), and pay them a cautious visit. If they have a generator, they may be able and willing. Have your contacts (one or two, not twenty) and their phone numbers written down, as well as the message. Make the deal, hand them the note, hand them the gas, say 'thank you' and leave.

If there's reasonable chance that they will do as you requested, realize that they aren't going to want you in their home, hanging over their shoulder and waiting for them to actually make the contact.

Sue

Thanks everyone, really good information here. I suppose unless its a disaster/event that means TEOTWAWKI, long distance communication will be possible, though it might require some patience and a little creative thinking. I did some searching and was surprised to find that there actually is an emergency auxiliary communications service (ACS) made up of volunteer HAM operators coordinated by the LA City Fire Dept. I had no idea something like that existed here but its good to know. Of course, as OldBaldGuy said, its reassuring to know that if all else fails we can always hire kevin costner.

As of Feb 2008, Analog Cell Service will cease in most places:

http://news.com.com/2100-1039_3-6143866.html
"While most U.S. cities are blanketed with advanced cell phone service at least four times over, huge patches of rural America still don't have cell phone coverage. What's more, the problem could get worse before it gets better when rules requiring carriers to offer older, analog service expire early in 2008."


Effects include knocking out 10% of OnStar subscribers:
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/03/30/2454117.htm

Thats why I said internet/e-mail the / is sort of an either/or

I'm thinking jmacclau was probably meaning a POT (Plain Old Telephone) as in corded home phone which can still work in a power outage since all the teloco stuff runs from battery.