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If cost isn't an issue there are existing commercial satellite phones and phone services that have been around for quite some time see Iridium, Inmarsat, Global

If cost isn't an issue there are existing commercial satellite phones and phone services that have been around for quite some time see Iridium, Inmarsat, GlobalStar. Or if you want a middle-of-the-road option so to speak there is Garmin InReach service that would allow texting via the Iridium satellite network. In this case the officials are being issued phones. Some companies issue phones to employees. If your job is critical during a catastrophic event then your company should issue you a satellite phone. Perhaps corporations could get bulk discounts. Each neighborhood's CERT team should maybe invest in at least one phone to text others. Of course if they are planning for a full scale nuclear exchange then those options may be useless when the different layers of the atmosphere are charged. HAM radio operators or even CB radios may be more useful for local communications. Long distance would require a courier and a lot of bottle caps. I have no idea what they are actually planning for. Perhaps EMP floated in on a few balloons that takes out power continent wide? Overload of the power grid? [1] Halting all petroleum imports and re-shuffling the locally produced fuel transport networks? Go 100% green in 2024? [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36097173 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36097173

mikem170 3y ago
> I have no idea what they are actually planning for. The article said: > The devices are part of a series of new security measures being offered to senators by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who took over shortly after the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. I assume they figure that the next insurrection may involve the loss of cellular communications, which is reasonable to expect from a decent coup attempt. The authorities might plan on jamming cell phones themselves, want to deprive the insurgents that communication channel.
- LinuxBender 3y ago
  I did read that but just assumed it was hyperbole. Jan 6 was some broken windows and doors. [Edit] And some people got hurt though I expect this in a big riot A few militia members had weapons but nothing high-tech and most despite being dressed up as soldiers had no combat experience. They had been planning that incursion for over a year on a public audio blog. I think the only real surprise was that the militia that normally wore Hawaiian shirts were not wearing them. Journalists from Frontline had been embedded with a few of the militias for a year leading up to the event and they had been coordinating with POTUS the entire time. These guys were not qualified or capable enough to cause a wide spread cellular outage.
  - mikem170 3y ago
    But what happened on January 6 was enough that representatives had to flee. The people responsible for security would want to address the possibility of something like this, or worse, occurring in the future. Why would they not respond to this with improvements? Security forces have their own separate communications, it makes sense for representatives to be reachable in an emergency also. January 6 may have been a reminder of that, at the least.
    - LinuxBender 3y ago
      Why would they not respond to this with improvements? They had every opportunity to improve the situation by having the nation guard present. They were offered and declined. That small contingency of capitol police would have be overwhelmed by a Walmart super-sale stampede and it was not fair to make them absorb the known incoming riot. That is why it does not surprise me that the police let many of the rioters in without resistance on one side of the building. Those that resisted were easily overwhelmed. If anything I feel bad for those cops that were put in harms way. The incident was avoidable or at very least the national guard could have quickly asserted control. It was also not cool making the national guard members sleep in a cold parking garage. Most guard members were not dressed for sleeping in a garage in 20-30F weather.
      - mikem170 3y ago
        > They had every opportunity to improve the situation by having the nation guard present. I would assume that the circumstances around the deployment of National Guard are being looked at, also. The article didn't comment on this, they were talking about satellite phones. And satellite phones would still be useful in situations, such as what happened January 6, even if the national guard were present.
        LinuxBender 3y ago
        And satellite phones would still be useful in situations, such as what happened January 6, even if the national guard were present. Maybe it would be useful for a minute to the congressional folks on the upper floors. I would be surprised if either satellite or plain cellular would work at all in the hallway effectively a tunnel they were escorted to. Maybe cellular-over-wifi would work. Adding to this every office in the capitol building has a hard wired multi-line desk speaker phone. All logistical communications would be by UHF trunked and P25 encrypted 2-way radios by capitol police assuming they were on the tactical channels. Their radios can also operate point-to-point without the need for a repeater. Politicians would be instructed to end their call and "Come this way". Where cellphones would have been useful is if everyone started recording video and put their phones in shirt or pants pockets to act like body cameras.

mikem170 3y ago

> I have no idea what they are actually planning for. The article said: > The devices are part of a series of new security measures being offered to senators by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who took over shortly after the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. I assume they figure that the next insurrection may involve the loss of cellular communications, which is reasonable to expect from a decent coup attempt. The authorities might plan on jamming cell phones themselves, want to deprive the insurgents that communication channel.

LinuxBender 3y ago
I did read that but just assumed it was hyperbole. Jan 6 was some broken windows and doors. [Edit] And some people got hurt though I expect this in a big riot A few militia members had weapons but nothing high-tech and most despite being dressed up as soldiers had no combat experience. They had been planning that incursion for over a year on a public audio blog. I think the only real surprise was that the militia that normally wore Hawaiian shirts were not wearing them. Journalists from Frontline had been embedded with a few of the militias for a year leading up to the event and they had been coordinating with POTUS the entire time. These guys were not qualified or capable enough to cause a wide spread cellular outage.
- mikem170 3y ago
  But what happened on January 6 was enough that representatives had to flee. The people responsible for security would want to address the possibility of something like this, or worse, occurring in the future. Why would they not respond to this with improvements? Security forces have their own separate communications, it makes sense for representatives to be reachable in an emergency also. January 6 may have been a reminder of that, at the least.
  - LinuxBender 3y ago
    Why would they not respond to this with improvements? They had every opportunity to improve the situation by having the nation guard present. They were offered and declined. That small contingency of capitol police would have be overwhelmed by a Walmart super-sale stampede and it was not fair to make them absorb the known incoming riot. That is why it does not surprise me that the police let many of the rioters in without resistance on one side of the building. Those that resisted were easily overwhelmed. If anything I feel bad for those cops that were put in harms way. The incident was avoidable or at very least the national guard could have quickly asserted control. It was also not cool making the national guard members sleep in a cold parking garage. Most guard members were not dressed for sleeping in a garage in 20-30F weather.
    - mikem170 3y ago
      > They had every opportunity to improve the situation by having the nation guard present. I would assume that the circumstances around the deployment of National Guard are being looked at, also. The article didn't comment on this, they were talking about satellite phones. And satellite phones would still be useful in situations, such as what happened January 6, even if the national guard were present.
      - LinuxBender 3y ago
        And satellite phones would still be useful in situations, such as what happened January 6, even if the national guard were present. Maybe it would be useful for a minute to the congressional folks on the upper floors. I would be surprised if either satellite or plain cellular would work at all in the hallway effectively a tunnel they were escorted to. Maybe cellular-over-wifi would work. Adding to this every office in the capitol building has a hard wired multi-line desk speaker phone. All logistical communications would be by UHF trunked and P25 encrypted 2-way radios by capitol police assuming they were on the tactical channels. Their radios can also operate point-to-point without the need for a repeater. Politicians would be instructed to end their call and "Come this way". Where cellphones would have been useful is if everyone started recording video and put their phones in shirt or pants pockets to act like body cameras.