Readying Network Throughout Eastern Seaboard
Bellevue, Wash. — Sep. 2, 2010
T-Mobile USA, Inc. is preparing for the potential impact of Hurricane Earl, with wireless network preparations underway throughout the Eastern Seaboard, especially from the Carolinas and north to the Canadian border. The company is fully mobilizing all necessary resources to restore service to its customers and emergency first-responders if its cell sites are affected by the storm.
The T-Mobile Incident Command Team stands ready throughout the Eastern U.S., with local Command Centers established in the following areas: Charlotte, N.C.; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia, Pa; New York, N.Y.; Parsippany, N.J.; Long Island, N.Y.; Hartford, Conn.; and Boston, Mass. In addition, T-Mobile has a National Response team monitoring the event, with backup support from Snoqualmie, Wash. T-Mobile technicians and engineers will be mobilized to support and assist any network restoration that is needed as soon as post-hurricane conditions permit. Finally, the company’s Network Operation Centers (NOCs) will also be responsible for managing network traffic during this event, and the company has redundant support in place for each NOC.
T-Mobile is taking the following additional steps to prepare the company’s network for the storm:
- In the event of widespread power outages, T-Mobile has access to additional fuel to supply our generators and company repair and transport vehicles, and for other emergency circumstances.
- Backup generators and fuel tanks for regional network switch operations are in place, have been tested, and fuel has been topped off.
- To further supplement the fixed and portable back-up generators, T-Mobile currently has in place at its cell sites throughout the region dozens more portable generators, ready to be transported to impacted areas.
- Microwave radio 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 several Cells-On-Wheels (COWs) pre-staged in neighboring markets to move in and provide additional wireless communications capacity in the hardest-hit areas.
- T-Mobile will monitor evacuation efforts and routes, and will take steps to increase wireless capacity in those areas as customers move inland.
- The company also is coordinating recovery efforts with local, state and national officials.
T-Mobile is also preparing for storms that are expected after Earl, including Fiona and Gaston.
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