Charlotte, N.C. — Sep. 5, 2008
T-Mobile USA, Inc. is preparing for the potential impact of Hurricane Hanna, anticipating potential landfall in the Carolinas, but also preparing for impacts as far south as southern Florida. 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 in Charlotte, North Carolina and at locations throughout the Southeast to mobilize teams of technicians and engineers as soon as post-hurricane conditions permit. The company’s Network Operation Center (NOC) in Frisco, Texas will also be responsible for managing network traffic during this event.
T-Mobile is taking the following steps to prepare the company’s network for the storm:
- In the event of widespread power outages, T-Mobile has thousands of 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.
- 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.
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