Bellevue, Wash. — Sep. 22, 2005
T-Mobile USA, Inc. is preparing for the potential impact of Hurricane Rita. The T-Mobile Disaster Recovery Team stands ready at several command centers within close proximity of the areas expected to be hit hardest -- enabling teams of technicians to mobilize, as soon as conditions permit, to work to restore service to cell sites that may be affected by the storm.
-- In the event of widespread power outages throughout the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast, T-Mobile has more than 10,000 gallons of fuel accessible and ready-to-roll into the affected areas to power cell site generators and company repair/transport vehicles, and for other emergency circumstances. T-Mobile also has on-demand access to thousands of gallons of additional fuel from suppliers.
-- To help protect its core network, T-Mobile has fortified its network switch operations serving the greater Houston market, and continues to reinforce its switch in New Orleans, which remained operable through Hurricane Katrina.
-- Microwave equipment has been trucked into the region to facilitate data communication from the cell sites to T-Mobile's network switches, as backup, in the event T1 fixed line service fails.
-- T-Mobile has dozens of generators and several Cells-On-Wheels (COWs) on standby to support wireless communications to areas hardest hit by the storm.
-- The company also is coordinating recovery efforts with local and state officials, as well as with U.S. Homeland Security and the FCC.
-- T-Mobile is seeing increased wireless traffic on its network in northern Houston and Austin as people evacuate. T-Mobile is taking steps to increase wireless capacity in those areas as customers move inland.
T-Mobile Customer Tips
In order to better facilitate communication between families and loved ones, and to alleviate anticipated network congestion before, during and after the storm, T-Mobile recommends its customers follow these important tips:
-- Utilize text messaging to communicate instead of voice calls. Text messaging has a greater success rate in getting through the network during high-usage periods versus voice calls.
-- Keep your voice calls short in duration.
-- Make sure your phone is fully charged prior to the storm. Consider obtaining a vehicle charger in the event of power loss.
-- For T-Mobile Customer Care assistance, please visit http://my.t-mobile.com, call 611 from your T-Mobile handset, or dial 1-800-937-8997.
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.