Dave Stepp’s concrete illustration of invisible risk
That backhoe image, offered on the Government Technology Insider podcast by Verizon’s Dave Stepp, frames the central problem: apparent redundancy can be an illusion when multiple networks share the same physical infrastructure. Stepp’s observation was presented during a discussion hosted by Matt Langan and joined by Verizon experts Stepp and Chris Russell, Distinguished Architect. The blunt example underscores how a single, localized incident can simultaneously take down primary and backup paths when they run through the same conduit, middle‑mile provider, or even share a power source.
Why the PACE framework is being rethought with wireless options
Defense agencies have long relied on the PACE model — Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency — to plan continuity. On the podcast, Stepp and Russell argued that legacy backup strategies were not designed to deliver the kind of path diversity now considered essential. They described wireless technologies — specifically 5G, private wireless, and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites — as practical alternate and contingency options that can provide the physical separation PACE requires but often lacks in practice.
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The conversation named three categories of invisible risk that commonly undermine redundancy: shared power infrastructure, wholesale middle‑mile providers, and shared physical pathways such as conduit. Even when organizations provision a "secondary" network, that secondary can be co‑dependent on the same wholesale routes or the same electrical feed. The result is a brittle posture: multiple labeled paths that collapse together under a single event.
Wireless as a resilience layer, not just a convenience
Stepp and Russell framed wireless connectivity not as a convenience or an add‑on, but as a critical layer to achieve the path diversity defenders need. By inserting 5G, private wireless, and LEO links into PACE planning, agencies can create alternatives that do not share the same conduit, middle‑mile provider, or local power source. The podcast positioned those wireless options as practical tools for alternate and contingency roles within mission planning.
What this means for technologists, procurement leaders, and the Department of War
- Technologists and security teams: will need to map physical dependencies as well as logical ones — identifying where primary and backup share conduit, middle‑mile, or power — and then evaluate wireless options that deliver physical separation.
- Procurement leaders: must consider wholesale middle‑mile and power interdependencies when sourcing secondary networks, and assess 5G, private wireless, and LEO services explicitly as contingency options rather than optional extras.
- The Department of War: faces the operational imperative of ensuring mission readiness by incorporating wireless layers into PACE planning so that localized infrastructure incidents do not cascade across all labeled network paths.
The takeaway of the discussion is straightforward and stark: redundancy that looks redundant on paper may be a single point of failure in the real world. Construction accidents, floods, or any event that damages shared physical pathways can render primary and backup alike ineffective. Stepp’s backhoe image is an apt shorthand for why agencies and planners must move beyond checkbox redundancy toward true path diversity — and why 5G, private wireless, and LEO capacity are now being framed as essential tools in that redesign.
Listen to the full podcast and read the original piece at the Government Technology Insider link below:
https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/rethinking-backup-connectivity-for-mission-readiness/
