Yesterdays telephone "blackout" in Maryland

According to the news reports, a wireless communications cable was breached yesterday in Carroll County, MD. All the reports stated that it only interrupted wireless telephone service and although it was owned by AT&T, many other companies used the line.
However until late last night, I was unable to dial outside my calling exchange on landline service , therefore I could not reach ANY cell phone numbers by landline.Many people I know who have DSL were unable to connect and on the TV news it was mentioned that alot of customers in Walmart and other stores were unable to use their debit cards, due to connectivity issues. Then I realized that alot of our connection to the world relies on the communications grid and wondered if there was something to worry about. You hear all the critics saying our nationwide electricity grid needs investment to update it, but little about communications.It doesn't seem like a huge issue, but a gap in telephony creates a challenge just as an electric blackout. Everything from credit card machines to security alarms to satellite receivers for your TV depend on using either standard telephone lines or fiber optic cable to communicate with remote servers. Our telecommunications network needs the same priority given to our electric power grid so that these little "gremlins" occur less often and so that we can keep up with the latest in communications technology.