[August 15, 2011] U.S. federal regulator probes wireless shutdown by San Francisco subway system Tweet SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 15, 2011 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday said it is investigating the blocking of cell phone services last week by San Francisco subway system. On Friday, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) authorities said they turned off the electricity to cell phone towers in four stations for three hours on Thursday after they learned that demonstrators planned to use mobile devices to coordinate a protest on train platforms. "Any time communications services are interrupted, we seek to assess the situation," said FCC spokesman Neil Grace in a statement. "We are continuing to collect information about BART's actions and will be taking steps to hear from stakeholders about the important issues those actions raised, including protecting public safety and ensuring the availability of communications networks," said Grace. On Saturday, hacker group Anonymous called for a protest at 5 p. m. local time on Monday at Civic Center station in San Francisco. On Sunday, the hackers attacked a BART website and released personal information of more than 2,000 BART customers. BART spokesman Linton Johnson said Monday that the transit agency hoped for a peaceful protest outside the fare gates, but may be forced to close stations or divert riders. It was also possible that BART would again cut cell-phone service, along with Wi-Fi service in some areas, said Johnson. The transit agency has been under criticism from free speech groups and civil liberties organizations but it noted that the disruptions were legal and were in the interest of public safety. Demonstrators have planned to protest the July 3 fatal shooting of Charles Blair Hill by BART police who claimed Hill attempted to throw a knife at them at the Civic Center station. The protest never materialized last Thursday as one police officer told The San Francisco Examiner that it was an "epic fail. " On July 11, a protest against July 3 shooting disrupted service during the rush-hour commute when protesters tried to physically block trains by jumping on top of them. It prompted the closing of the BART Civic Center station and several arrests were made. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]