Cell Operators Tackling Outages in Ian-Impacted Florida

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Overall, just over three percent of the cell sites in Florida impacted by Hurricane Ian remained out of service on Tuesday, according to the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). Of a total of 8,097 sites, 249 were not working. 148 had no power, 95 had data transport issues and seven were damaged. An additional 245 sites were on backup power. That compares to just under four percent on Monday.

But some areas are still experiencing high outages. In Desoto County, just over 19 percent, five out of 26 cell sites weren’t working on Tuesday, most due to lack of power.  

Lee County experienced 14.5 percent cell site outages, according to DIRS. Out of 394 sites, 57 were not working, due to either lack of power or data transport issues.

Hardee County had the most cell site outages Monday, when eight out of 39 sites weren’t working. The number of non-working cell sites dropped to five as of yesterday.

Charlotte County had the second-most sites out on Monday, when 21 out of 114 were not operational. That dropped to 15 out of 114 yesterday, mostly due to a lack of power.

Cable and wireline companies reported 415,640 subscribers out of service in the disaster area; this may include the loss of telephone, television, and/or internet services. That compares to 474,706 on Monday.

Broadcasters are starting to return to air. No TV stations were off-air on Tuesday, one better than Monday. Five FMs were off-air, the same as the previous day. Two AMs remained off air. Sanibel Police Department Headquarters communications was rerouted to another emergency call center with location information.

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

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