As high wind gusts and dry conditions increase the risk of wildfires in Northern California, PG&E has announced a new round of potential precautionary power shutoffs. The planned outages are set to affect 25 counties and could begin as early as Wednesday morning.
As these power shutoffs have at times had intermittent impact on our service, T-Mobile is working closely with PG&E to monitor the situation. Our top priority is to keep our customers connected and ensure our network remains up and running. We have taken proactive steps to install permanent generators and battery backups in critical cell sites. We also have an additional fleet of temporary generators that our emergency response teams are keeping re-fueled to provide even more support.
We encourage customers to take a few quick steps now to prepare in advance of the shutoffs:
- Follow PG&E on social media to stay up to date on the situation:
o PG&E Twitter - Fully charge all your devices now. Consider investing in a charging device like an external battery that doesn’t need a power outlet – and fully charge it as well.
- In the event the T-Mobile network is unavailable but power remains available to you at home, set up Wi-Fi Calling on your phone. For Apple phones, go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling; and for Android phones, go to Settings > More Connection Settings > Wi-Fi Calling.
It is possible that some T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile stores may be closed during the shutoffs. If you are a customer and need assistance with your account or service, please call 611 from your handset and we will be happy to help. If you are unable to reach us via your mobile but have access to another working phone landline, you can call 1-800-937-8997.
As a reminder, customers on Magenta, T-Mobile One, or Simple Choice plans always have unlimited talk, text, and data. Metro by T-Mobile customers also have unlimited talk and text on all plans.
During congestion, the small fraction of T-Mobile customers using >50GB/mo. (and Metro customers using >35GB/mo.) may notice reduced speeds (and Metro customers may notice reduced speeds vs. T-Mobile customers) until next bill cycle due to data prioritization.