I-Team: New data line could aid Coachella Valley’s breakdown-ridden 911 system
INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - News Channel 3 is getting answers about ongoing 911 service disruptions around the Coachella Valley and the solutions in the works.
Our local 911 emergency call centers have been knocked offline and have faced repeated disruptions due to data outages caused by thieves cutting data cables and a line cut during a natural disaster. The most recent breakdown was July 31st in Cathedral City.
It's a crisis for these emergency response centers and anyone who calls them in dire need of help when every second counts.
In a preview of his latest investigation, I-Team Investigator Jeff Stahl reveals a potential and likely fix expected to go online within months.
A new high-speed fiber-optic cable line is being installed, which will soon add redundancy and help keep emergency services up and running even if the current high-speed trunk line goes down.
The construction project is part of the state's Middle Mile Broadband Initiative, a $3.25 billion project that's been in the works since 2021.
"Although we don't provide, for example, 911 services, our infrastructure will be able to provide other options for your communities to provide redundancy around those emergency services as well," said Jared Johnson, the Chief Deputy Director of the Broadband Initiative.
The MMBI project is connecting every corner of California with improved internet connectivity for homes, businesses, and community institutions in unserved or underserved areas-- the Coachella Valley included.
Cathedral City Police Sergeant Rick Osborne said, "It would be another layer of infrastructure redundancy, which, by definition, would increase reliability."
The Middle Mile network runs through the Banning Pass, into Palm Springs, then along the Union Pacific Rail Corridor all the way to Indio, Coachella, then south toward the Salton Sea along Highway 111.
There's much more to this story. Find out more about the City of Indio, which has already contracted to connect to the MMBI project, and how soon it will be online here locally. It's going to be sooner than you might expect for a state effort this great.
See Jeff Stahl's complete I-Team investigation, Emergency Backup, Thursday at 6:00 pm on KESQ News Channel 3.
