PaddyJoe
13-08-2011, 01:08 AM
Looks like the supposed social media threat has gone beyond FB and Twitter in San Francisco. Now the Bay Area Rapid Transport are shutting down the mobile network:
The operators of the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway system temporarily shut down cell service last night in four downtown San Francisco stations to interfere with a protest over a shooting by a BART police officer, a spokesman for the system said today.
"BART staff or contractors shut down power to the nodes and alerted the cell carriers," James Allison, deputy chief communications officer for BART, told CNET. The move was "one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform," he said in an initial statement provided to CNET earlier this afternoon.
Activists had planned to protest the fatal shooting of Charles Blair Hill (http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-07-08/bay-area/29750147_1_bart-officer-police-officer-man-shot), who BART police said went after them with a knife before an officer shot him on July 3.
The initial statement from BART said the subway system had asked the wireless carriers to suspend the service in the stations, but Allison later said BART itself pulled the plug and notified the providers after the fact.
The BART statement about last night's event said "Cell phone service was not interrupted outside BART stations. In addition, numerous BART police officers and other BART personnel were present during the planned protest, and train intercoms and white courtesy telephones remained available for customers seeking assistance or reporting suspicious activity."
The suspension of cell service appeared to prevent protesters from organizing, and the protest failed to materialize.
Cell service was suspended from about 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT in Embarcadero, Montgomery Street, Powell Street, and Civic Center BART stations, BART's Allison said.
Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all provide service in the Transbay Tube, according to BART (http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2009/news20091221b.aspx). The Tube runs beneath the San Francisco Bay, connecting San Francisco to Oakland, Berkeley, and other East Bay cities.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20091822-245/s.f-subway-muzzles-cell-service-during-protest/
The operators of the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway system temporarily shut down cell service last night in four downtown San Francisco stations to interfere with a protest over a shooting by a BART police officer, a spokesman for the system said today.
"BART staff or contractors shut down power to the nodes and alerted the cell carriers," James Allison, deputy chief communications officer for BART, told CNET. The move was "one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform," he said in an initial statement provided to CNET earlier this afternoon.
Activists had planned to protest the fatal shooting of Charles Blair Hill (http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-07-08/bay-area/29750147_1_bart-officer-police-officer-man-shot), who BART police said went after them with a knife before an officer shot him on July 3.
The initial statement from BART said the subway system had asked the wireless carriers to suspend the service in the stations, but Allison later said BART itself pulled the plug and notified the providers after the fact.
The BART statement about last night's event said "Cell phone service was not interrupted outside BART stations. In addition, numerous BART police officers and other BART personnel were present during the planned protest, and train intercoms and white courtesy telephones remained available for customers seeking assistance or reporting suspicious activity."
The suspension of cell service appeared to prevent protesters from organizing, and the protest failed to materialize.
Cell service was suspended from about 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT in Embarcadero, Montgomery Street, Powell Street, and Civic Center BART stations, BART's Allison said.
Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all provide service in the Transbay Tube, according to BART (http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2009/news20091221b.aspx). The Tube runs beneath the San Francisco Bay, connecting San Francisco to Oakland, Berkeley, and other East Bay cities.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20091822-245/s.f-subway-muzzles-cell-service-during-protest/