When disasters strike, we move quickly to maintain and restore communications services for first responders and local communities.
6 min read
KEY TAKEAWAYS
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Nicole Hudnet, Industry Segment Advisor,T-Mobile is committed to public safety, and part of that commitment is having a dedicated Emergency Response Team 24/7, 365 days a year, to support public safety and first responders.”T-Mobile ERT
This kind of rapid response is critical because reliable communications are essential to emergency support and public safety during natural disasters. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, snowstorms, wildfires—all require planning and coordination among emergency managers in public agencies, local communities, and communications service providers.
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Our
We prepare for dozens of these situations during the year, from tornadoes across the central U.S., to wildfires in Hawaii, New Mexico, and Washington state, to flooding in Vermont—all places we’ve been called into action.
We even had personnel in place, trucks ready, and 24-hour emergency hotline available during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, which stretched across the United States and parts of Central America and Canada. We knew that crowds would be forming at prime viewing locations along the path of the eclipse, causing potential congestion on local networks. Thanks to
More than 99.7% of the hundreds of Wireless Priority Service calls made by first responders during the eclipse were completed.
If and when network infrastructure is impacted, communications services must be restored ASAP for both emergency responders and the public.
“When these events occur, our first goal is to get the macro network restored as quickly as possible,” says Hudnet, who has supported hundreds of emergency and public-surge events. “That’s going to give first responders and customers the best experience, the most backhaul, the lowest latency, and the most capacity.”
We accomplish that with detailed planning and state-of-the-art mobile equipment. You may have seen our trucks heading into risk zones even as local residents are evacuating. Our deployable gear includes our Satellite Cell on Wheels (SatCOWs), Satellite Cell on Light Trucks (SatCOLTs), and RV command centers. All of these can be set up in staging areas on the periphery of impacted areas, enabling our team to move swiftly into action.
We prepare for these real-world scenarios by participating in training exercises and industry events like the Governor’s Hurricane Conference and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building Resilience Conference. Practice drills are often designed around a PACE (primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency) plan, which defines responsibilities and procedures to be followed if communications are disrupted. A PACE plan, says Hudnet, helps you “train the way you fight.”
To stay one step ahead of Mother Nature,
In situations like this, reaching cell towers can require navigating rural or mountainous terrain in challenging conditions, which is why we have invested in heavy-duty deployable equipment. But on-site repairs aren’t always necessary. Our technicians can sometimes remotely adjust cell towers to concentrate the signal where needed, providing first responders with the bandwidth they require sooner for rescue operations.
In fact, we did just that after a tornado in Texas in April 2024.
Every public safety situation is different, which is why it’s so important that our various teams—which include Network Emergency Management, Community Support, and National Operations Centers—are fast and flexible. Here are real-world examples of our teams in action.
These and many other emergency response operations are made possible by our close collaboration with government organizations, public safety agencies, utilities, and other wireless providers.
“You cannot meet someone for the first time during a disaster,” says Greg Hauser, statewide interoperability coordinator with North Carolina Emergency Management, which has worked with
T-Mobile gives first responders top priority and secure network preemption for voice and data.
Building on our breadth and depth of experience, the
and where.
When that happens, our ERT will be there to help. “Tell us what you need, what communications problem you’re looking to solve,” says Hudnet, “and we’ll find the right solution.”
First responders deserve the ultimate in network performance and we are ready to deliver the 5G era of public safety now, with the America’s first 5G slice that prioritizes public safety.
For qualifying emergency response organizations or individual first responders on eligible rate plans. Not available with Connecting Heroes rate plans.
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