They're completely different use cases. When you have a dedicated frequency it's robust to a lot of common failure cases. Take the Boston Marathon Bombing, of

They're completely different use cases. When you have a dedicated frequency it's robust to a lot of common failure cases. Take the Boston Marathon Bombing, of all the communication infrastructure Amateur Radio was one of the few that stayed up[1]. It's really common for hams to provide event support in cases like that and other events where cell communication is limited to none at best(think bike races out in rural areas). Spend a bit of time poking around the hobby, you might find it's more interesting than first glance. [1] http://www.arrl.org/news/radio-amateurs-provide-communication-support-in-boston-marathon-bombings-updated http://www.arrl.org/news/radio-amateurs-provide-communicatio...