Hams 1 – Vandals 0

LinkedIn’s ARRL HAM Radio Operators group made me first aware of an interesting story which unfolded in Silicon Valley on April 9, 2009. A group of as yet unknown vandals cut multiple fiberoptic transmission cables which link the South Bay area and several Californian counties. This affected mobile and fixed phone service as well as broadband Internet access, including the 911 emergency system.
The local authorities quickly notified the ham radio operators of the Amateur Radio Emergency Services organization, which set out with their private, radio-equipped vehicles early in the morning, communicating with each other and the emergency operation center in several communities, vigilant for any emergency which may occur. These dedicated amateurs earned great praise especially from police officials in the affected areas.

A detailed account can be found on N5FDL’s Journal, an Amateur Radio and Emergency Communications blog.

This event, far from the earthquakes, floods and fires we are used to read about in conjunction with amateur radio emergency communications, shows, first of all, how vulnerable our information and communication driven society becomes to simple acts of vandalism. It also highlights, once again, the importance of a service such as amateur radio, which uses either a completely independent infrastructure (such as the amateur radio repeater system), or no infrastructure at all, such as the amateur radio shortwave networks.

When all else fails – amateur radio works.