BlackBerrys Work Through Quake While Calls Fail in Boon to RIM

**Buzz_Dengue** · 08-23-2011, 04:55 PM

BlackBerrys Work Through Quake While Calls Fail in Boon to RIM
By Hugo Miller and Olga Kharif - Aug 23, 2011 3:58 PM CT

BlackBerry e-mail messages were delivered as usual after an earthquake struck Virginia today while calls failed, a potential boon to manufacturer Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) as it tries to win back lost market share.

The device, indispensable for many bankers, executives, lawyers, politicians and Washington lobbyists, relies on thousands of RIM servers for its e-mail service instead of phone companies’ networks. Some calls failed because systems of carriers including Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) were clogged as people tried to reach friends, relatives and colleagues.

The BlackBerry, after its debut a decade ago, became the No. 1 smartphone in the U.S. by ensuring clients’ communications are reliable, a selling point that helped it attract users including President Barack Obama. RIM is now trying to revive sales growth after losing its lead position to Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone and devices running Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software.

“RIM certainly has a reputation for being reliable when it comes to messaging and being secure and that’s what they’ve built their success on,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Teaneck, New Jersey.

RIM’s service has operated normally all day, said Marisa Conway, a spokeswoman for the Waterloo, Ontario-based company. Verizon, AT&T Inc. (T) and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) experienced a surge in phone calling and said they had no immediate reports of network damage after the 5.8 magnitude earthquake.

‘Heavy Call Volume’
“You have to call several times to get through some places,” Peter Thonis, a spokesman for New York-based Verizon, said in an interview. “It’s very temporal. I know of no network issues at this time” on the wireless or landline networks, he said.

Scott Sloat, a spokesman for Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint, said the company is “experiencing an intermittent mass calling event, as is expected following an incident of this nature.” Sprint Nextel has had no reports of “impact to its network” and encouraged customers to send text messages rather than place calls to reach family and friends, he said.

“We have no reports of network damage, but we are seeing heavy call volume,” said Mark Siegel, a spokesman for Dallas- based AT&T.

excerpted...

BlackBerrys Work Through Quake While Calls Fail in Boon to RIM - Bloomberg

**limh5** · 08-23-2011, 05:07 PM

Ya, that's compared to the iPhone on AT&T, which drops 3-4 calls for every call you try to make if you're in NYC. And that's during normal operations, not even in an earthquake.

**qbnkelt** · 08-23-2011, 05:13 PM

All around me people with personal devices other than BB could not send email, SMS or make/receive calls. I was able to contact family and my loved ones vis BBM and email without disruption.
I was able to communicate with my team by sending a group broadcast during the evacuation and was able to learn that they were all oK.
Yah.....one of the reasons I *choose* BB.

**Danf** · 08-23-2011, 05:22 PM

What Apple doesn't have an "app for that" when it's phone doesn't work?

**lnichols** · 08-23-2011, 05:22 PM

Txt and phone calls were degraded for a while all over Northern VA. BBM and e-mail on my Blackberry have worked flawlessly all day and for everyone I was communicating with. At least I know that when the Cell networks are jammed, my BBM is likely to work and I can communicate with my family while all the clowns clog up the control channels with txts!

**qbnkelt** · 08-23-2011, 05:43 PM

Yup....I was able to communicate with loved ones stateside AND across the pond just so that he wouldn't worry about my safety...IMMEDIATELY. And kept a steady stream of communication through the event.
Friends and colleages with other devices were helplessly trying to get word out, unable to get through.

**_StephenBB81** · 08-23-2011, 06:28 PM

Drum that up to RIM's alternative network, and low data consumption per communication, 4 times as many people can send a message for the same amount of spectrum space.

Much better in an emergency to have a communications tool!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**Duvi** · 08-23-2011, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by limh5

Ya, that's compared to the iPhone on AT&T, which drops 3-4 calls for every call you try to make if you're in NYC. And that's during normal operations, not even in an earthquake.

Both my BlackBerry and iPhone devices were working in NYC. Are you in the NYC region too?

**TheScionicMan** · 08-23-2011, 07:49 PM

Oh, don't bust me up with your little 5.8 shaker. Get back to me when you ride something above a 7. My personal best was a 7.3...

J/K, it can be traumatic, especially if you've never been through one. And if you get an after shock or two, the short-term PTSD kicks in and you freak out when a big truck rolls by or a cart down the hallway or anything shaky happens.

BBs are very versatile. We can even PIN message each other when our BES is down...

**qbnkelt** · 08-23-2011, 08:22 PM

You got me beat. My personal best that I myself experienced was the 6.9 northridge.

**ADFXPro777** · 08-23-2011, 08:23 PM

One of Blackberry's main pillars, reliability, is why I use a Blackberry. It's great to see a real-world example of why Blackberries are (unlike some other phones) useful tools, not toys.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**flyflyaway75** · 08-23-2011, 08:54 PM

RIM? You guys taking notes on all of this testimony. Great ad stuff is you ask me. Could pull in all of the nervous, over protective mother types.

And no. I haven't checked the app store lately but I don't believe they have anything like that. ^^

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**Branta** · 08-23-2011, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by lnichols

Txt and phone calls were degraded for a while all over Northern VA. BBM and e-mail on my Blackberry have worked flawlessly all day and for everyone I was communicating with. At least I know that when the Cell networks are jammed, my BBM is likely to work and I can communicate with my family while all the clowns clog up the control channels with txts!

It is possible or even likely the networks went to priority mode with non-essential users in the affected area barred from making voice calls except 911, until the (non) damage was confirmed. That should have been one of the lessons from 10 years ago when everyone in NYC phoned home and those with urgent need couldn't get a connection.

**buckwylder** · 08-23-2011, 09:00 PM

was there any doubt rim was / is / always will be the number one brand? lol

**tuffy100** · 08-23-2011, 09:03 PM

it's cute how you east coasters think that was a big earthquake

**myrv** · 08-23-2011, 09:17 PM

/shrug, I can't say what is or isn't a big quake as I have been fortunate to never be in one. However, having had friends move from Cali and having discussed building codes, houses are built differently there to withstand quakes. Then again, I can understand your jocular attitude. Where I live we get a lot of hurricanes and tornado's tearing through, so we are a little desensitized to high winds.

**Branta** · 08-23-2011, 09:22 PM

Originally Posted by tuffy100

it's cute how you east coasters think that was a big earthquake

The size of the earthquake is not the topic although geological differences mean an east coast quake impacts a much larger area than the same scale on west coast.

Read the original post and keep the discussion on topic please. The reports are pretty conclusive, BB data service was found to be reliable even when other services fell over.

**BigD00d** · 08-23-2011, 09:45 PM

Didn't even notice the loss of communications until I got an email from my college saying Emails and phones were gonna be slow/down :P.

**southlander** · 08-23-2011, 09:54 PM

Yeah. I was trying to call my fiancee and she was calling me. On VZW the calls were failing.

So we started BBM'ing. Worked fine.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**Mr Rtic** · 08-23-2011, 10:10 PM

Originally Posted by tuffy100

it's cute how you east coasters think that was a big earthquake

And that's why we live here and not there(where ever THERE is) can't take all that shake rattle-n-roll all the time. Lol

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**kbill1984** · 08-23-2011, 10:17 PM

Originally Posted by Qbnkelt

You got me beat. My personal best that I myself experienced was the 6.9 northridge.

My aunt lived just a couple miles from the epicenter.

**Xterra2** · 08-23-2011, 10:29 PM

Haha good to hear this
The good bb triumps again

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**stackberry369** · 08-23-2011, 10:47 PM

Originally Posted by TheScionicMan

Oh, don't bust me up with your little 5.8 shaker. Get back to me when you ride something above a 7. My personal best was a 7.3...

J/K, it can be traumatic, especially if you've never been through one. And if you get an after shock or two, the short-term PTSD kicks in and you freak out when a big truck rolls by or a cart down the hallway or anything shaky happens.

BBs are very versatile. We can even PIN message each other when our BES is down...

consider this before you laugh:I am about 20 miles from the powerplant and it sit in a faultline and can only withstand a 6.2 quake,above that we here in louisa county are in deeepdoodoo.can you say meltdown and the water dam obilerated?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**ADFXPro777** · 08-23-2011, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by tuffy100

it's cute how you east coasters think that was a big earthquake

This article explains why the earthquake, despite just being a 5.8, was felt all over the East Coast: http://bit.ly/pgU1py

In actuality, it's overall result may have been equivalent to a 7.0 in the West Coast.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com