Emergency Communications When the Network Drops
The assumption underneath most people’s emergency planning is that they will be able to make a phone call. In a significant event, that assumption fails in a specific and predictable way.
Mobile towers have battery backup measured in hours, not days. When the power goes, coverage degrades progressively as those batteries run down — and simultaneously, everyone in the area tries to call at once, congesting whatever capacity remains. Fixed broadband needs powered equipment at both ends. The result is that the phone in your hand can show full bars and still fail to connect a call.
So plan for degradation rather than for a binary.
The 10-minute version
- Text instead of calling. SMS queues and gets through gaps that will not sustain a voice call.
- Use one out-of-area contact. Local networks congest and local people are in the same event. Everyone reports in to a relative interstate instead of trying to reach each other.
- A battery radio is the one irreplaceable item. ABC Local Radio is the designated emergency broadcaster, and it works when nothing else does.
What still works, in order
1. A battery or wind-up radio. One-way, but it is how you find out whether the road is closed, where the evacuation centre is, and what the fire is doing. Twenty dollars, no substitute.
2. SMS. Queues, retries, and needs only a sliver of signal. Keep messages short and include location.
3. An out-of-area contact. The single most effective communications technique available, and it is free. Everyone reports in to one distant person, who becomes the family switchboard.
4. A charged power bank. Not a communications device, but the thing that keeps the others alive. A 10,000 mAh bank is two to three phone charges.
5. Wi-Fi calling and messaging, if the internet is up but the mobile network is congested. Worth knowing whether your phone has it enabled before you need it.
6. Emergency calls on any network. 000 can connect via any available carrier, not only your own, and 112 from a mobile does the same. Try it even when your own carrier shows nothing.
7. UHF radio. Licence-free handhelds, a few kilometres in good conditions and much less in hills or buildings. Genuinely useful on a property, in a convoy, or between neighbours in the same street. Channel 5 and 35 are reserved for emergencies; do not use them for chat.
8. A satellite messenger. Two-way text and an SOS function via satellite, on a subscription. This is the answer for genuine remote travel and for regional properties where coverage is unreliable.
9. A PLB (personal locator beacon). One-way distress only, no subscription, registered with AMSA. It does one thing — brings a search to your location — and does it extremely well.
10. Satellite phone. Expensive and reliable. Worth it for remote work and touring, overkill for a suburban household.
Comparison of costs and use cases for the last four: Comms Gear.
Writing the plan
The plan is four lines on the same page as your family emergency plan.
- The out-of-area contact: name, number, and the fact that everyone reports in to them.
- The rule: text first, call only if a text fails.
- A check-in schedule: a specific time, twice a day, so nobody burns battery on repeated attempts. “We text the out-of-area contact at 9am and 6pm.”
- What happens if nobody can be reached: proceed to the meeting point and wait. An agreed fallback prevents people driving into hazards looking for each other.
Written on paper, because the phone is the thing that fails.
Battery discipline
Your phone is a torch, map, contact list, radio and payment method. Treat the battery as fuel.
- Low power mode immediately, at the first sign of a long event.
- Airplane mode between check-ins. In poor coverage a phone burns battery hunting for signal, and this is the single biggest saving available.
- Screen brightness down, background app refresh off, no scrolling.
- One phone on, the rest off. In a household, keep one device as the active line and power the others down as reserves.
- Screenshot the important things while you have signal: the plan, the map, the evacuation centre location, policy numbers.
- Car charger in the car, power bank in the bag, and both actually charged before the season.
What actually goes wrong
Everyone calls at once, congesting the network for the whole area including responders.
People rely on a group chat which needs data that is no longer there.
The phone dies at hour six from hunting for signal at full brightness.
No radio, so the household has no idea what is happening beyond their street.
The contact list exists only in the phone. Write the five numbers that matter on paper.
Nobody agreed a check-in time, so everyone calls constantly and nobody connects.
A PLB was bought and never registered. An unregistered beacon still triggers a search, but registration is what tells searchers who and what they are looking for.
UHF is treated as a toy, or used on the emergency channels for conversation.
Thresholds
| Situation | The rule |
|---|---|
| Start of any long event | Low power mode, one phone active, the rest off |
| Between check-ins | Airplane mode. Stop hunting for signal |
| Contacting family | Text, not call. Report to the out-of-area contact |
| Check-ins | Agreed times, twice a day, so nobody wastes battery |
| Emergency call with no bars | Try 000, then 112. They use any available network |
| Information about the area | Battery radio, ABC Local Radio |
| Genuinely remote | Satellite messenger or PLB, carried on your body |
| UHF channels 5 and 35 | Emergency use only |
What it costs
| Tier | Spend | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | The out-of-area contact, the text-first rule, agreed check-in times, five numbers written on paper, battery discipline |
| Solid | ~$50–80 | Battery radio ($20) and a 10,000 mAh power bank ($30). This covers the overwhelming majority of household events |
| Better | ~$150–300 | A pair of UHF handhelds, a second power bank, a car charger, a small solar panel |
| Remote | ~$350–600 | A registered PLB, or a satellite messenger with a subscription for two-way text |
| Professional | $1,000+ | Satellite phone. Remote work and touring, not suburbs |
The drill: the twenty-minute setup
- Five minutes. Nominate the out-of-area contact and ring them to confirm. Write their number on the fridge plan and in every car.
- Five minutes. Write the five essential numbers on paper: 000, SES 132 500, the out-of-area contact, your insurer, your electricity distributor.
- Three minutes. Tune the battery radio to ABC Local now and write the frequency on the radio in marker.
- Three minutes. Check the power bank is charged and note where it lives. Same for the car charger.
- Two minutes. Turn on low power mode and airplane mode once so everyone in the household knows where the settings are.
- Two minutes. Agree the two daily check-in times and write them on the plan.
Frequently asked questions
Why do mobile phones stop working in a disaster?
Towers have battery backup measured in hours, so coverage degrades as those batteries run down. At the same time everyone in the area calls at once and congests the remaining capacity. Fixed broadband also needs powered equipment at both ends.
Is it better to text or call in an emergency?
Text. SMS queues and retries and needs only a brief sliver of signal, while a voice call needs a sustained connection. Keep messages short and include your location.
What is an out-of-area contact?
One person outside your region that everyone in the family reports in to. Local networks congest and local contacts are in the same event, so a distant hub reassembles the family far more reliably than trying to reach each other directly.
Can I call 000 with no signal?
Often yes. Emergency calls can connect through any available carrier rather than only your own, and 112 on a mobile does the same. It is always worth trying even when your phone shows no bars.
Do I need a satellite messenger or a PLB?
Only if you go somewhere without reliable coverage. A PLB is one-way distress with no subscription and is the cheapest reliable way to be found; a satellite messenger adds two-way text on a subscription. Neither is necessary for a suburban household.
What is the single most important item?
A battery or wind-up radio. It is the only way to receive area-wide official information when the network and power are down, and ABC Local Radio is the designated emergency broadcaster.