GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — A University of Wisconsin–Madison professor says the recent Cellcom outage may be exposing a larger problem: insufficient investment in communication infrastructure, particularly in rural regions.
Professor Parmesh Ramanathan, who teaches electrical and computer engineering, says many networks lack backup systems to keep services running when critical lines go down.
“There should be redundancy, there should be investment in infrastructure to prevent this from happening,” Ramanathan said.
He explains that providers are less likely to spend money on additional equipment where they generate less revenue.
“There’s not enough revenue available for them to invest in those things,” he said. "Invest in more cell towers, more cables, more backup equipment, backup generators, all of those kinds of things that are needed to keep cell service going."
While larger carriers may have mobile units ready for emergencies or natural disasters, Ramanathan says rural providers like Cellcom may not have those resources.
He warns that without stronger infrastructure investment, widespread outages like this could continue to affect large areas, leaving customers vulnerable.
