This morning a fiber optic cable was cut in Brooklyn, NY. This stopped internet service in NY city, then it spread throughout the Northeast and Mid Atlantic States. This was a break in a Verizon cable, but the backup the break caused effected other providers.
Hours later it was fixed. But during that time work stopped. How would you like to pay for workers to sit around doing nothing and you don’t know how long it’s going to take to fix the problem because the internet, where you would find out the repair time estimate, was down.
China only needs a backhoe to bring the United States to its knees. The internet cable to my town is strung on telephone pole running along a two lane road. One drunk driver and the internet is out. You can’t buy food at the grocery store because the cash registers don’t work and the price is not marked on the store items (or even on the shelf under the item in many places) so the store can’t sell food. I once went to a grocery store when the internet was out and they had employees run and get prices off the shelf so the person taking money could sell food when the cash registers were down.
When Ma Bell ran things there were backups and alternate lines. Now that it’s a free for all and cost have to be kept low, there are no backups. One line is all there is and if that line is cut damaged or sabotaged we all suffer.
Cell phone towers are often connected together with fiber optics cables and use the internet. If the internet goes down your cell phone will not work.
Its not just fiber optic cables. The water supply to the city of Los Angeles runs through a tunnel in a mountain. If that tunnel is damaged LA will go dry. You can not truck enough water into LA.
I am against government getting into everything, but its needs to make companies spend the money to provide alternate fiber optic cables. Too much depends on uninterrupted service. Companies will not spend money on backups, in case things break (which may never happen), unless forced to. Email your congressman, if the internet works.
Stay strong, write on, keep fresh batteries for your flash light, and your laptop charged.
Professor Hyram Voltage