Attack on the Wires - how the global telecoms network survived
on September 11th
What happens when one of the worst terrorist attacks in history
strikes the densest cluster of communication networks on the planet?
What
happens when half a billion people try to call the same place at
the same time? Just how close did the world come to a global meltdown
in long distance communications?
Attack
on the Wires, an OU/BBC production, takes a behind-the-scenes
look at how global phone networks, wireless communications, and
the internet managed to cope with digital chaos, a damaged infrastructure,
and an unprecedented need to communicate on September 11th when
terrorist attacks hit New York and Washington.
That
day witnessed the largest volume of local and long distance calls
in the history of telephone communications - and the vast majority
of call attempts never had a chance of getting through.
Attack
on the Wires, to be broadcast on BBC TWO on Monday 5 August at 7.30pm,
features unique access to the AT&T underground global command
centre and interviews those in charge of managing an international
network facing crisis and an unprecedented test to its survival.
In
the days following the attack, the BBC was the first TV crew to
be allowed inside New York City's most important telephone exchange
on West Street - next to the World Trade Center complex.
The
West Street exchange suffered extensive damage when thousands of
tons of debris came crashing down on two million voice and data
lines.
West
Street was the switching point for a major portion of Wall Street,
most lower Manhattan residents, and was the key switching centre
for New York City's emergency 911 phone network. New York City faced
the possibility of its emergency phone network being wiped out.
So
how did the telecommunication companies cope in the face of such
a global disaster? Verizon is America's largest local phone service
provider handling more than a billion calls a day, more than 300
million from the New York City area alone.
Vice-president
Dave Rosenzweig describes the scale of the devastation they faced:
"Here's
a building where the equipment is never, ever, designed to be switched
off and everything in the building, serving 200 thousand customers,
is dead in the water. This is a situation we've never faced before."
The
internet came into its own on September 11th as millions of people
worldwide logged on to find out the latest information.
Virtually all New York City television stations went off the air
because their transmitters were on the top of the World Trade Center
– this increased web traffic as friends and relatives of those
caught up in the tragedy tried to discover their loved ones' fate.
But
how did online news services cope with the massive surge in demand?
Science
fiction writer Bill Shunn started his own unofficial survivor website
within two hours of the disaster after receiving calls from friends
to let him know they were OK.
"When
I would go in to watch the television I would feel helpless. When
I was at the computer I felt that I was doing something to help,"
he said.
Bill's
site took on a phenomenal life of its own with millions of visitors,
and about a dozen similar sites were set up following his example.
But
how did he manage to provide crucial information more efficiently
than the US government and all official rescue efforts?
Attack
on the Wires answers all these questions and more.
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