"running dogg" wrote

There's a report in this thread that the phone system was shut down,
since cell phones are used as detonator timers.

Cell phones systems can be "shutdown" independant of landline phone systems
if that is so desired.

If the internet lines
were shut down, that would explain why BBC online was unreachable.

It is more likely that they were simply overwhelmed.

Maybe
after having four bombs go off in central London near Bush House, BBC
management will start beefing up shortwave BBCWS and other over the air
BBC services? I hope they're getting a firsthand lesson on how
unreliable their much vaunted internet technology is when it's needed
most.

A few more disasteroius incidents like this should make them come around if
they have any sense at all.

It's hard to believe that the original purpose of the internet was
to create a communication network capable of surviving a nuclear war. A
few guys with bombs can overload it. Imagine what blowing up the
buildings housing the root servers could do.

The TCP/IP network is the most robust communications network in wide use
today.
It was designed to be able to automatically route traffic around "damaged"
fabric. If
servers need to be "bomb proof" they are mirrored and located at
geographically
diverse locations so that if one server takes a hit the other(s) will
survive. That is the
idea. Whether or not the now "public" non-military internet practices such
mission
critical diversity is another matter.