The decision by AT&T and T-Mobile to open their mobile networks to each other in the aftermath of Sandy provided some relief for subscribers in affected areas. This allowed individual subscribers to use either network.
But Verizon and Sprint did not participate in the roaming agreement. Even if they had wanted to, it would have been impossible because their networks use technology that is incompatible with AT&T's and T-Mobile's systems.
Interoperable networks improve resiliency (in case one network goes down, another can be used), and they drive down equipment costs through economies of scale. The FCC needs to do more to promote and further interoperability, either through dual-technology devices, or in the ongoing development of new standards.
These four steps will not solve all the problems. For instance, severe flooding and extended power outages might overwhelm even the limits of the backup power supply, or the physical damage to cell sites might render too many of them inoperable. But taken together, they are capable of improving the resilience of communications systems, making disaster recovery after the next storm a little easier, and the return to normal a little faster.
Tolu Odumosu is a research fellow in the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. Venkatesh "Venky" Narayanamurti is the Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy and professor of physics at Harvard.
