Houston Market and Galveston Island Service Restored
Houston, Texas — Sep. 30, 2008
T-Mobile USA, Inc. continues to restore service to the Houston market, including Galveston Island, in the wake of Hurricane Ike. More than 98 percent of the company’s cell sites have had service restored, with coverage and call quality experiences for customers in the affected areas now at near-normal, pre-storm conditions.
Working together with local and federal agencies and officials, and mobilizing the company’s engineering capabilities before, during and after the storm, T-Mobile efficiently and effectively insured that its customers in the Houston and Galveston areas were able to stay connected with their friends, family and business needs.
After establishing a T-Mobile Incident Command Team in Houston prior to Hurricane Ike’s landfall and supporting teams in Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana, T-Mobile technicians and engineers began restoring network service immediately after the storm.
- T-Mobile offered complimentary Wi-Fi Internet service making access free of charge for customers and non-customers alike throughout all of coastal Texas and Louisiana, and inland as far as 300 miles from the Texas coast from September 13 through September 18.
- Hundreds of mobile generators complimented fixed generators and battery backup on key sites throughout the region, allowing the company to restore service as quickly as possible. Additionally, the company had hundreds of generators on stand-by in nearby markets if needed.
- Tens of thousands of gallons of fuel were made available and on-hand to assist in recovery efforts.
- More than 400,000 T-Mobile prepaid add FlexPaysm customers in the affected areas were given the ability to make calls without charge when their balances fell below five dollars between September 13 and September 18.
- More than 60 of T-Mobile’s 70 retail stores in the affected areas have now re-opened to service customer needs in the area.
- T-Mobile provided cell phones and service to fire departments and emergency responders on Galveston Island and in Port Bolivar.
On Galveston Island, T-Mobile’s network remained partially operational throughout the storm, despite being heavily damaged. T-Mobile’s infrastructure on the island continues to be restored, while customers are now experiencing near-normal levels of coverage and call quality.
Lindsay Morio
T-Mobile USA Media Relations
425-383-4002
About T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc. is the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG. By the end of the first quarter of 2010, approximately 150 million mobile customers were served by the mobile communication segments of the Deutsche Telekom group - 33.7 million by T-Mobile USA - all via a common technology platform based on GSM and UMTS, the world's most widely used digital wireless standards. T-Mobile USA's innovative wireless products and services help empower people to connect to those who matter most. Multiple independent research studies continue to rank T-Mobile among the highest in numerous regions throughout the U.S. in wireless customer care and call quality. For more information, please visit http://www.T-Mobile.com. T-Mobile is a federally registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG.