But they, too, were vulnerable and congested. Traffic volume was seven times normal. In heavily damaged areas, one third of NTT's transmission towers were damaged or stopped working for lack of electricity. Emergency batteries proved inadequate. Adjacent towers often maintained coverage, but at the expense of capacity.
Disaster mitigation meets the prepared.
Congestion control should receive priority. Collaborative multi-aid agreements among otherwise competing carriers, such as already exist in New York, should be reached and tested in advance. Inbound 800 numbers could let some long-distance calls though even while most are blocked. But no network can be designed economically to withstand the gravest and rarest of disasters and congestions. One must be realistic about the limitations of advanced planning.