Verizon engineers are probing a software failure that left thousands of voice and data subscribers in the Los Angeles area without service for up to 12 hours.
The Los Angeles Times said about 150,000 customers were cut off early Tuesday when a computer problem cropped up at a Long Beach switching facility, which led to a corruption of the system's main software and then an ignoble crash that knocked out landline, Internet, some cell-phone service and even 911 capability.
Backup systems failed to deploy for reasons that remained under investigation Wednesday.
The situation caused Long Beach officials to put out emergency informational broadcasts over a commercial radio station.
Other wireless carriers reported problems as well, as people in the affected areas switched to their cell phones after their land lines went down.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
Related stories:
Mariners urged to look out for whales
The U.S. Coast Guard has warned mariners to take care to avoid hitting whales, after three whales were killed off the California coast.
US ports vulnerable to devastating earthquake damage
If a repeat of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were to occur, and the Port of Oakland were so severely damaged that it took as long as two years to resume full operations, what would be the impact on the U.S. economy?
Businesses use Web without abandoning physical presence
Chuck Bankoff, Capistrano Beach franchisee for WSI Internet, has not met 90 percent of his clients in person. Most of his work and meetings are done over the Internet.
Dirty smoke from ships found to degrade air quality in coastal cities
Ah, nothing like breathing clean coastal air, right? Think again. Chemists at UC San Diego have measured for the first time the impact that dirty smoke from ships cruising at sea and generating electricity in port can have on the air quality of coastal cities.
Experimental phone network uses virtual sticky notes
The rapid convergence of social networks, mobile phones and global positioning technology has given Duke University engineers the ability to create something they call "virtual sticky notes," site-specific messages that people can leave for others to pick up on their mobile phones.
Northern right whales head south to give birth, leave genetic 'fingerprints' with NOAA researchers
Like many northerners who head south to warmer climates for the winter, many Northern right whales also head south in November and stay into April. Their destination is the only known calving ground for this rare and endangered population—the waters off Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. When they arrive, NOAA scientists are there to greet them, and to take DNA samples.
Finding ingenious design in nature
“This,” Joanna Aizenberg says slyly, picking up a latticed tube from her desk in Pierce Hall, “is a glass house you can throw stones at.”
Status quo of the tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean
The German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean (GITEWS) runs on track. Main milestones like the development of the automatic data processing software SeisComP3, as well as the underwater communication for the transmission of the pressure data from the ocean floor to a warning centre are already finalised. Furthermore the calculations of the ocean modelling including the source modelling were completed and are available in a data base so that the system can be set into operation at the end of 2008. This positive conclusion is drawn by the GITEWS consortium consisting of different German geo and marine scientists on the occasion of the third anniversary of the tsunami catastrophe on December 26, 2004.