AT&T is using amphibious vehicles, drones and more to recover its networks during disasters

In a posh warehouse outside of Atlanta, nestled among office parks and a chain of restaurants in suburban America, AT&T is preparing for disaster. It’s one of the company’s Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) locations, where a team of AT&T volunteers can test and train equipment that can quickly connect when a local office goes down. cancel.

Longtime Engadget readers may remember our 2008 visit to a similar site in the Chicago area, just a year after the iPhone launch and long before the company started rolling out 4G LTE. No matter how much the world has changed since then – with smartphones practically in every pocket and Multi-billion dollar weather and climate disasters are on the rise.

First launched in 1991, AT&T spent more than $650 million building the NDR program (an increase of $100 million since 2008). Since 2017, AT&T has also provided network support to FirstNet (First Responder Network), which provides public secure wireless networks across the United States. Both T Mobile and Verizon have their own disaster response initiatives, but AT&T’s mobile division has the advantage of launching more than a decade before either of those rivals arrive in the US. None of the companies have publicly disclosed how much they invest in disaster recovery, and our inquiries for more specifics remain unanswered.

One thing for AT&T when it claims that it is spending a large amount of change on disaster recovery (the skeptic in me can’t help but wonder how that figure is calculated). But seeing the sheer number of devices the company has earmarked for its NDR program makes one thing clear: This isn’t just good PR. It’s an ethical mission for AT&T’s volunteer employees, many of whom are from the military. While the mission isn’t as critical as providing food, water, and shelter, providing connectivity can still save lives by making it easier for first responders to communicate with each other, not to mention providing people in danger access to help.

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

During a visit in 2008, we learned that the NDR team was using a standard Chevy Suburban packaged with a mobile device to restore parts of its network. Today, they are looking up at the sky and beyond. (That suburb has also been replaced by 4×4 emergency response club pickups.) AT&T has been using drones called Flying COWs (Cell-on-wing) for several years, but upcoming repetition could extend 5G coverage to about 10 square miles from 300 square feet in the air, while the drones currently in use offer Band 14 LTE.

For safety reasons, all of the company’s drones are now tethered to ground stations, which provide power as long as their transmitters can continue to be fueled. They also require two operators – one to control the drone and another to keep an eye on obstacles. The drone I’ve seen looks bigger than any consumer drone I’ve seen, and it can hold up to 5 pounds of payload.

Going forward, AT&T has been granted a patent for a remote flight system that allows operators to control drones thousands of miles away, and they are exploring solar powered devices. can fly autonomously for days. (Unfortunately, I didn’t see AT&T .’s 55-foot trainfly 1,000 feet in the air to provide connectivity over 100 miles for up to two weeks.) NDR staff told me AT&T is also testing robodogs that can cope with a variety of situations – from running up the mountain while walking. forest fire, come help disarm the bomb.

The company has also enhanced ground and water games with Amphib. With its huge veins, it looks like a small red tank, but it can also float and move in water using the rear propellers. According to AT&T’s Kelly Morrison, this is the kind of vehicle that can make hurricane weather much easier, who is also a longtime NDR volunteer. Amphib is essentially a passenger and payload engine, but it gives the company more flexibility when dealing with flooded areas. With historical rainfall, we have recently seen in St. Louis and KentuckyIn addition to the inevitable sea level rise, Amphib could become one of the NDR team’s most useful tools.

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

These new toys are cool and all, of course, but the core of AT&T’s NDR team continues to be COLTs (Ultra Light Trucks). They can tap into the company’s existing fiber optic backhaul lines and provide cellular connectivity within hours. If the local infrastructure is completely down, AT&T can use SatCOLT to reach the satellite. And for hard-to-reach areas, the company now has a “Rapid Deployment Device” (CRD), which can be placed on the back of a truck or hiked to the top of a mountain. The company also has thousands of generators on hand – essential for any disaster site. While the primary goal is to restore connectivity for first responders and customers, AT&T’s FirstNet commitment also ensures interoperability with competing service providers.

During the devastating Marshall Fire in Colorado, which destroyed more than 1,000 homes, FirstNet responders rushed to set up two SatCOLTs on New Year’s Eve. Other teams come from Kansas, Texas, New Mexico and Missouri, resulting in the use of up to eight SatCOLTs to support FirstNet jobs and local businesses. The flames weren’t the only challenge: Additional calls required a team to cover two passes in heavy snow conditions.

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

The NDR team did not have many vacations throughout the year. According to AT&T, three SatCOLTs helped first responders during the Yosemite wildfires in July. And since August 1, FirstNET has also deployed two other SatCOLTs to assist with rescue operations during the recent flooding in Kentucky. The team has been deployed more frequently since 2018, when AT&T was tapped to support FirstNet, and it’s also responding to the growing number of wildfires we’re seeing in the US.

And of course, NDR employees are always on the lookout for new ways to improve their disaster response. The team tells us they are looking forward to using the ultimate low-Earth satellites, which will provide more bandwidth and lower latency than existing fixed satellites. Virtualizing their work will also be a huge help. Currently, much of their response involves moving workers and setting up control centers in hazardous areas. But as they move towards smaller and easier-to-deploy assets, like drones and CRDs, they may not have to set up a trailer at all.

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

After a tour of the NDR site, I couldn’t help but notice mobile devices scattered across the sparse Georgia landscape. I can see towers at every high point in the area, delivering strong 5G speeds on the same roads I struggled for 2.5G Edge over a decade ago. . It’s easy to take this mass of connections for granted. And now that we’re starting to see extreme weather events more frequently, it’s clear that AT&T’s NDR team, and similar initiatives from competitors, will be needed more than ever.