Los Alamos Reporter

On The Occasion Of The Two Month Anniversary Of The Outage

BY RICHARD SKOLNIK
White Rock

Almost two months after our phone and internet outage, I am “impressed” that the County has still not spoken to us about how our community can deal with the emergency aspects of such an issue in the future. Nor has the County spoken to us about the measures it is taking to try to avoid such outages in the future.  

Since the County has failed to speak to the community on this matter, I have prepared below the draft of a County communication on it. To make such a communication especially easy for the County, all it has to do is fill in the blanks in the note below and then send it to all of us. Community members should note that I am providing this service entirely free of charge.

“Dear Los Alamos County Residents,

As you know, on December 11, we suffered an outage of both telephone and internet service. 

Related to that outage, a number of County residents have asked the County Council to answer the following  questions:

  • Can we call 911 during such emergencies from our mobile or internet-based phone services? If not, how can we summon emergency services?
  • Are there places in the County at which the internet will continue to work during such outages?
  • If we have another such outage, how will the County inform us of news about the outage, including answers to the above questions?
  • What is the County doing to prevent such outages in the future?

The County Council would like to advise you of the following:

  • You can/cannot call 911 during such emergencies. If you cannot call during emergencies here is how you can summon emergency services: __________________________.
  • During such an outage, “wi-fi” will still be available at the following spots in the County: ______________________________.
  • If we have another such outage, the County will inform residents of any information related to their health and well-being in the following ways: ______________________________.
  • To prevent such outages in the future, the County is taking the following steps: ____________________________.

We trust that this information is of value to the community.

Sincerely,

Your County Council”