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FCC wants emergency drones

This is a Marketplace.org Reader

Busy day for the FCC yesterday, actually. At its meeting, the commission also explored the viability of restoring critical communications capabilities through the use of drones in the event of a disaster. The idea is that the drones would serve as airborne cell towers in order to allow for disaster response and 911 calls. It’s an interesting idea and certainly no one wants 911 service to be blockaded or anything.
For this to work, however, says Politico:

 

The commission needs to figure out whether there will be interference problems between a DACA-enabled aircraft and ground communications, how to activate the technology and who will be in charge of it.
The FCC isn’t going to launch its own air force, but some commissioners believe that using technology like the military uses on the battlefield can have peaceful applications.

 


The Politico article points out that a type of weather balloon can also be used. So in the event of a disaster, we could all rely on a balloon. Life-saving help is on the way as long as NO ONE POPS THE BALLOON.

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