Communications blackout

What happened when we went five days without contact with the outside world

124 hours. That’s a long time – over five full days. Imagine not being able to contact a loved one for that long. Not knowing what happened with your dad’s surgery, unable to learn the gender of your sister’s baby, not having access to your support system to check in with them, being cut off from your attorney before a court appearance, not being able to arrange for transportation home for your parole date. 

These are some of the issues residents of Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) had between 8:54 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30 through approximately 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, 2026. 

Early that Tuesday morning, CCWF residents experienced a WiFi outage on their Securus tablets. Periodic WiFi outages have occurred since March, when CCWF transitioned from Viapath/Global Tel*Link to Securus, so there was no major panic or upset at that time. After all, almost monthly, there’s been a WiFi outage at CCWF. 

But this time was different. 

After the first day, residents began asking correctional staff, ancillary staff, and anyone with access to the outside community what was going on. Residents heard a multitude of rumors about what caused the outage: everything from copper wire being stolen to cuts in the fiber optic cables to something being wrong with Securus’ infrastructure within CCWF, to name some. 

Residents also heard that the institution was being inundated with phone calls from concerned families and friends who could not contact their incarcerated loved ones and who had not heard from them in days. 

Families and friends were understandably dismayed because anything can happen to someone when they are incarcerated. And, unlike years past, phone calls could not be made by CCWF residents. 

The fact that phone calls are affected by WiFi outages is something new at CCWF. During the years prior to electronic messaging being authorized, the phone system was pretty reliable. Sure, there were some issues over the years, but they were generally resolved quickly. Never had there been an outage of five days where no one within the facility could make a phone call. 

When CCWF transitioned from Viapath/ Global Tel*Link, residents were told the services would be the same or better with Securus – messages would be less expensive, phone calls would still be free, we would have a better selection of games and movies, and the overall quality would improve. 

Since we are literally a captive audience and have no choice in what content provider we have, CCWF residents have tried to make the best of the situation despite subscription-based services that are much higher in price than we were led to believe. 

But what no one anticipated was that our phones would be cut off anytime the WiFi is disrupted, which is what we now experience. 

Communication with loved ones is vital in so many ways. An extensive body of research exists that supports the proposition that maintaining familial and friendship bonds helps curb recidivism, gives mental health support, strengthens personal relationships, and countless other benefits. But all those benefits are replaced by anxiety, fear, and frustration when access is cut off and replaced by an information vacuum. 

Once the WiFi was reconnected the afternoon of July 4, residents breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began reaching out to worried loved ones. CCWF residents weathered this storm – but what about next time? 

According to “The West Side Express,” quoting an AT&T spokesperson, “the blackout was caused by two fiber cuts in Central California.” Additionally, “according to the official AT&T outage map, the outage was caused by a transport failure, with an estimated repair time at 12:15 a.m. on July 1.” 

The fact that the outage was repaired for the greater community less than a day after it occurred, while it took more than three additional days to be repaired at CCWF, begs a few questions – why did it take so long, what steps are being taken to ensure it does not happen again, and is Securus seeking to cure the defect of a communications blackout being imposed on an institution when the WiFi goes out, even apart from any issues with AT&T? 

If Viapath/Global Tel*Link could keep the phones on even during WiFi disruptions, why can’t Securus? 

CCWF Paper Trail cannot answer these questions. But, since we are focused on solutions and covering news that is relevant to our community, we will endeavor to post updated information on our website, ccwfpapertrail.org, in the event outages occur in the future.