UK Shuts Down Mobile Networks In Wake Of Bombings?

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4659737.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4659737.stm</a><br /><br />In the wake of the horrible tragedy this morning in London where there have been at least 6 confirmed blasts with two dead and nearly one hundred casualties, it isn't a surprise that communications are strained as people try to contact loved ones. It may be though that some of the mobile networks have been shut down intentionally.<br /><br /><i>"Terrorism expert Professor Michael Clarke from the International Policy Institute at King's College London, speculated that the problems might be a security measure. "I've heard rumours that the mobile network is down, possibly shutdown," he said. "This could be because the MO (modus operandi) in Madrid was by setting off devices with mobile phones."</i><br /><br />I hope and pray that any 'Thought's readers in the area and their families are safe.<br /><br /><b>Update:</b> As of right now, <a href="http://news.com.com/Mobile+service+strained+after+London+explosions/2100-1039_3-5777715.html">Orange has confirmed</a> that they have <b><i>not</i></b> been asked by the government to restrain network usage.

[Mike Temporale]

I don't expect the mobile networks are shutdown so much as sturated with people trying to contact loved ones. It's a typical problem in these types of situations.

I hope all the Thoughts readers, their friends and families are safe. :(

[DaleReeck]

Cell phones are often used as detonators. It is possible that some comm services have been shut down momentarily though I wouldn't expect any follow up attacks. But you never know.

[Jereboam]

Vodafone has stated that they have given emergency services priority on the networks...

My sister is right in amongst where the blasts happened but thankfully safe.

I fear that casualty numbers are going to rise dramatically...

[abigsmurf]

it's just a case of 7million people wanting to make relatives know they're ok

[Darius Wey]

It certainly is a terrible tragedy. I've been following this all day and have been trying to get in touch with those I know who live in the UK. Thankfully, they're safe, but I can't help but think about others who haven't been so fortunate.

My thoughts go out to all the readers and their families affected by today's events.

[jonathanchoo]

o2-UK network was shut down although SMS was alright. An hour ago complete service was restored and many delayed text came in. T-Mobile seems to be alright while Vodafone is a little patchy. Most spectrums were allocated for emergency services.

If you are worried on any friends or relatives living in London, text them instead or call their landline instead.

[iant54]

My company recommended that we didn't use mobile 'phones for voice communications, but to use either text (SMS) or landlines for communication.

[Jon Westfall]

This is actually where I first heard about the aweful news (I slept late, and read the Email Blast while downloading my morning mail). Horrible tragedy, and hopefully the numbers will not rise dramatically as Jereboam suggets. I guess we'll wait and see.

It would really suprise me if a government asked a cell network to completely cut off service. Allocating a bunch of support to emergency services seems reasonable, but completly cutting off to the public seems to me like it would raise panic, despite any gains it might produce. But if there is reasonable thoughts that a cell phone may be used as a detenator, perhaps there is no easy way other than down the whole thing.

[rocky_raher]

From the CNN news item:
Telephone traffic -- particularly by cell phone -- was nearly impossible. London's largest cellular provider, Vodaphone, said it had devoted much of its network to emergency services, causing the problems with subscribers.

[MobileAGBell]

My son and his girlfriend left yesterday for London and a two-week European vaction. I first heard the news reports on the radio this morning and quickly turned on CNN. After 2 text messages to him and about three hours of waiting I received his response that they had left London just prior to the explosions and were now in Spain. You cannot imagine the relief I felt. But it saddens me greatly that many are still in a position of not knowing the status of their family and friends. Here's hoping their wait is short and the news is good.

[kiwi]

As soon as I heard I immediately txt msged my friends in London. They responded that they were safe - but I heard like 5 hours after it happened so I guess the networks are able to cope with with traffic now..

..on a tech front, I see a lot of people snapped photos on their mobile phones of the evaculation from the tube and other areas. some of these photos are on the BBC.CO.UK webpages and other news agencies as people start sending them in..

[Jereboam]

There's a flickr group going for photos from london and screencaps of TV coverage...

Looks like 40 dead and 300 injured so far. Forum software won't let me type what I really think of these murderous scum.

[Jason Dunn]

This is just horrible. :-( My prayers go out to the people who are affected by this. Who are the heartless bastards that did this? :evil: I hope they get caught and lynched.

[Pocket PC Dubai]

This is such a barbaric act from people who doesn’t know Islam. I hope relatives and friends get in touch with each other and find each other in good health and I send my condolences to the people who lost their relatives. We pray for them.

Mohammed

[Jonathon Watkins]

I've been using SMS texts to contact friends in London. They all replied that they are all OK. I tried phoning but could not get though. The Register say that the phone network is suffering under the load, but is just coping. (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/07/london_phone/)

[stevelam]

Could I just say that I send my thoughts to all of the people caught up in the blast.

An emergancy hotline has been set up for if you cannot contact your friends/relatives it is:

0870 1566 344

[stevelam]

This is just horrible. :-( My prayers go out to the people who are affected by this. Who are the heartless bastards that did this? :evil: I hope they get caught and lynched.

To darn right 0X

[griph]

This is such a barbaric act from people who doesn’t know Islam. I hope relatives and friends get in touch with each other and find each other in good health and I send my condolences to the people who lost their relatives. We pray for them.

Mohammed
I am sure that I speak for the majority of London residents in thanking you for your kind words. I am not at work at the moment, but my office is just 10 minutes walk from Russell Square. I remember well the IRA bombings in central London back in the later 70's - we were often woken in the middle of the night by not so distant rumblings or the emergency services instructions to either evacuate or move to the rear of our property.

The majority of Londoners have lived with bomb threats for so long that we just get on with our lives. It is inevitable that the London Transport System (and the people who use it every day) form a soft and easy target for the extremists that operate outside of the tennets of their Religions.

My thoughts go out to all innocent victims of such inhuman actions. For this I would support the re-introduction of capital punishment! :cry: :evil:

[Jereboam]

This is such a barbaric act from people who doesn’t know Islam. I hope relatives and friends get in touch with each other and find each other in good health and I send my condolences to the people who lost their relatives. We pray for them.

Mohammed

Too true...Islam specifically prohibits the murder of innocents...and from an ex-Londoner and someone who went into Liverpool Street every work day for 2 years, I also thank Mohammed and everyone for the sentiments.

Capital punishment would be too good for them.

[ombu]

This is such a barbaric act from people who doesn’t know Islam. I hope relatives and friends get in touch with each other and find each other in good health and I send my condolences to the people who lost their relatives. We pray for them.

Mohammed
They did it to all of us, we're all londoners today and we know they're not real muslims, THEY'RE JUST KILLERS, I just can't say it better than you did.

I'm painfuly living 9-11-01 and 3-11-04 again, I'm from Madrid although not living there since 2000, so I remember those long hours trying to contact my relatives (everybody was O.K.), wish I could help somehow further than praying for those in pain and uncertainty.

Regards.

[Mike Wagstaff]

As fate would have it, I'm currently living in a flat pretty much just above Russell Square tube station. I normally take the tube from Russell Square to Kings Cross, then along to Moorgate - and my workplace is close to Liverpool Street. I'm beginning to think that it might have been personal... ;)

Luckily, this morning, I set off early to play tennis with a friend before work, so we (just) missed out on being underground at the wrong time. It was quite eerie seeing hordes of people streaming out of the tube and spilling onto the streets. Without public transport, it's amazing how many people just didn't have a clue where they were going.

As we didn't initally catch on as to how serious the situation was, my friend and I set off to work on foot, only to be met by various police cordons. It was then, coupled with texts - and browsing the web on my i-mate JAM - that the scale of it all started to set in.

At a loose end, we spent our day strolling through the streets of London, stopping every so often to grab a bite to eat and watch the latest on TV. I have to say that all the police officers I encountered (and there were quite a few!) were marvellous - doing their best to calm everyone down, and provide what information they could.

Although I wasn't right in the thick of it, I didn't see much in the way of panic. Even when I tried to get back to Russell Square, nobody seemed particularly alarmed. There was a good sense of camaderie, with hotels and cafes handing out free food and drinks (even Starbucks were giving out free cookies!).

As for the phone networks being down, I suspect that most were allocating bandwidth as a priority to the emergency services. Certainly, I had trouble with Orange - but asynchronous communications such as texts all managed to get through in the end.

The only problem now is that my flat is still cordoned off, and the tube is still more or less out of action. Mind you, we Londoners are quite used to the latter...! :)

[gavinfabl]

I too feel for all those injured and killed.

I work right next to Liverpool Street Station, the site of the blast. Fortunately, I didn't play with my XDA this morning , so I was early for work. All phones and mobiles were out of action in the morning. Internet and email was slow. I had to walk 4km out of London to get a train home.

My cousin was on the tube train that exploded between Kings Cross and Russell Square. Luckily, he felt too squashed and light headed at Kings Cross and got off the train to wait for the next tube. The tube left Kings Cross into the tunnel and moments later heard an enormous bang.


Sadly, others were not as fortunate. The death toll according to the Sun Newspaper is 53, up from 37, with 700 injured, 50 seriously.

[Tari Akpodiete]

Although I now live in Canada, I was born in London. I am trying to reach my sister and my nephews who live in the downtown London area. I don't seem to have the right numbers, so it's quite maddening.

[gavinfabl]

Tari

go to www.bt.com and see select Directory Enquiries. If you need any help email me at gavinfabl (at) aol (dot) com and I'll see what I can do.

Gavin

[SHC]

I was in London going to a surgery conference, caught the Piccadilly line from Kings Cross to Holborn at 8.35. It's a funny feeling knowing that if I'd been a few minutes late I could have been on that tube train. Makes you think about lifes priorities.
It took me till 23.30 to get home but many people wont ever be going home - such a sad sad day.

[SlipstreamSolutions]

We noticed coverage up here in Manchester dipping a little in the morning, probably due to people saturating the network. But nothing particularly noticeable.

I was down in Milton Keynes the following day (Friday) - MK is about 45 minutes north of London - and the network was 100% back to normal with my i-mate working nicely and Spb GPRS Monitor telling me I'd clocked up 3.6 Meg by the end of the day.

And yes I went there and back by train and not a single one was delayed.

Joanne

Friends and family hotline for London explosions: 0870 1566 344

[dskeeles]

We noticed coverage up here in Manchester dipping a little in the morning, probably due to people saturating the network. But nothing particularly noticeable.


There's a few things that the networks can do. As the BBC said, they didn't actually shut down the network, although there is a feature that allows precisely this, for this reason - prevent incoming calls to mobiles on certain sites, covering certain areas, so they can't be used as trigger devices. Rumour has it they used this on a rolling basis when George W visited and drove through London the other year.

They can lock down some of the transmitters on each site to access by a "VIP" list of numbers. ie. emergency services phones - and it sounds like they did that. And they can also switch all the sites to 'half rate', where each call only gets half the normal bandwidth - about 7kbps instead of 13.2kbps, ISTR - which doubles the number of calls that can be made, but the quality is worse on each. Vodafone said that they did this, too.

I've not been involved in this since 9/11 happened, but I expect the operators form part of the overall govenment contingency plans. One of my jobs with Cellnet involved choosing which sites we'd keep running if one of the central switch sites was blown up by a (at the time) IRA bomb. Basically, they choose just enough sites to give outdoor coverage in populated areas, and turn off everything else.


[d]