A construction crew working in Cortez last week inadvertently cut a fiber-optic cable, and in doing so, exposed a serious defect in Southwest Colorado’s telecommunications. It is a weakness that merits immediate attention.
With the cable cut, it became apparent that the redundancy local officials thought had been built into the system did not exist. With that, 911 dispatch centers in La Plata, Archuleta and Montezuma counties, as well as in Ignacio and Telluride, were all affected. Land-line and cellphone service in some areas was also disrupted.
Losing such service, especially to dispatch centers, could be life threatening in an emergency. What is particularly concerning is that those in charge of emergency communications had thought – or had been led to believe – that there was sufficient redundancy in the fiber-optic lines that no single break would leave them cut off.
But what this incident showed, as one local official put it, is that, “Instead of being part of a loop, it’s like we’re at the end of a rope.”
The only part of how this happened that is clear is the construction crew cut the fiber-optic cable. But were those workers at fault or was the location of the cable somehow off?
More to the point, why were area emergency communications people under the impression that redundancy was built into the system? It should be, of course, and it is possible that at some point somebody said it was. Another official told the Herald he thought there were two sets of lines for 911 calls, four through Montrose and four through Grand Junction. Surely he did not just imagine that.
And Southwest Colorado also has a fiber-optic connection to Albuquerque, right? Was that not tied in?
The logical place to look for answers to these and other questions this incident gives rise to is CenturyLink, the company that operates these connections. But that might require help.
Next stop should be the Colorado Public Utilities Commission 911 Task Force and then maybe the PUC itself. The governor and some lawmakers should be aware as well.
Emergency communications should not be left doubtful.
