Network disaster recovery [Guest Editorial]

Telecommunication networks are known for high reliability. This is true for normal operations and outages due to failures in the network associated with hardware, software, and so on. However, unexpected disasters (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrorist attacks) do happen, and can have catastrophic impacts without excellent network contingency planning. This feature topic will address the various approaches to plan for and manage recovery following disasters, so that all concerned can mitigate these events effectively.