Phone, Internet Providers Fortifying Services in Case of Another Major Storm

By Esker, Fritz

Hurricane season starts Friday but phone and Internet providers have been fortifying services for months in case of another major storm.

Sprint Nextel invested $115 million in hurricane preparations for storm-prone communities in the first quarter, including permanent generators for critical wireless sites and network facilities. Sprint Nextel also bought new portable generators and cell sites on wheels, said Kristin Wallace, Sprint Nextel spokeswoman. During a significant power failure, cell sites on wheels can move to emergency areas to restore service more quickly.

“We can also use them for other needs like Jazz Fest to boost service if we know it’s going to be busy,” Wallace said.

Sprint Nextel spent $27 million last year to expand its emergency team, which assists first responders. In Louisiana alone, Sprint spent $44 million adding new sites for its statewide network.

Verizon Wireless has also strengthened its services.

Verizon Wireless spokesman Patrick Kimball said 95 percent of its individual transmission sites have on-site generators in case of a power failure. More than 200 portable generators also are available, and emergency fuel delivery is pre-arranged. Additionally, a fleet of cell sites on wheels and cells on light trucks will be moved into affected areas as part of a $1-billion project by Verizon Wireless in the Gulf Coast over the past seven years.

AT&T, formerly Cingular Wireless, moved equipment in storm zones to higher ground in case of flooding. Fiber optic cables have replaced copper wiring, and waterproof cables have replaced buried air-core cables, said AT&T spokeswoman Sue Sperry. Generators onsite in storm-prone areas will be fueled by natural gas to eliminate refueling.

AT&T hasn’t compiled a total dollar amount of how much it spent on shoring up communication technology along the Gulf Coast, Sperry said.

AT&T also recently took over BellSouth, so many residents use AT&T for high-speed Internet access. Sperry said AT&T replaced 2 million feet of cable and hard-wired it to secure facilities.

Facilities in the most vulnerable areas were not rebuilt but cables were rewired in more secure locations.

Cox Communications, a leading providers of high-speed Internet access, installed fiber optics and coaxial cables to run its network.

Michael Latino, Cox vice president of engineering, said fiber optics provide better backup in a storm.

“It gives you the ability to survive a single point of failure,” Latino said. “Nobody’s going to be able to prevent an oak tree from falling through the lines. … It’s who can recover in the quickest manner.”

Cox installed natural gas generators in chronic power failure zones to allow customers to continue wireless Internet and phone use.

Josh Lonn, regional director of development for T-Mobile, said the firm began working on regional storm preparations after the 2004 hurricane season. Lonn would not disclose an exact dollar amount spent on upgrades.

Permanent generators and battery backups are in place at T- Mobile’s Metairie switching facility, where calls are routed from one wireless provider’s network to another. It was not damaged during Katrina.

If a switching facility goes out, calls are rerouted to switches around the country and a lag period can occur, which is why the location of the facility is crucial: It’s located on the seventh floor of a Metairie building Lonn would not disclose.

AT&T completed a multimillion-dollar switching facility in Mandeville at 20 feet above sea level. In the event of catastrophic damage in New Orleans, the AT&T network will remain operational, Sperry said.

“Even 24 to 48 hours can seem like an eternity,” Lonn said.

Although wireless companies have been shoring up facilities, wireless customers must prepare themselves.

“Do you have an extra battery? Do you have a car charger?” Wallace said. Particularly important for less tech-savvy users is to learn how to use text messaging.

“A lot of times if your phone isn’t working, you can still send text messages,” Wallace said.

Home phone calls can be forwarded to cell phones in case of extended evacuation periods, Kimball said.

Despite all of these precautions, people should prepare for the unexpected, Lonn said.

“It’s nature,” he said. “You can’t predict everything.”

Credit: Fritz Esker

(Copyright 2007 Dolan Media Newswires)

(c) 2007 New Orleans CityBusiness. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.