UPDATE Wireless carriers and emergency responders continued to battle what is now Tropical Storm Harvey off the Gulf Coast of Texas on Monday. Rain pelted the region, bringing historically high flooding levels. (see comments from FCC Chairman Pai below)
The number of cell sites down in the affected area increased from 4.1 percent on Sunday to 4.7 percent on Monday. The counties with more than 50 percent of cell sites out are Aransas, Calhoun, and Refugio in Texas. In Louisiana, only Plaquemines County reported any cell sites out (three down out of 48). Of the 7,803 cell sites across the region, 364 were out of service as of Monday, compared to 320 on Sunday, and 315 on Saturday. That’s according to the latest public information available from the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System(DIRS).
The cell outage information was provided by those who signed a Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Agreement, according to the FCC. Four more radio stations went dark, bringing the total off the air to nine. No television stations were knocked off the air, according to the agency; however it cautioned the information is a snapshot in time and information is rapidly evolving, following the disaster.
Asked about the impact of the storm on AT&T’s wireless network in the region, a spokesman told Inside Towers yesterday, the carrier continues to evaluate the effects from Harvey, “but overall our networks in South Texas continue to perform well, so far. In Houston, historic flooding has affected wireline services for some customers, in addition to some wireless and wireline services in the areas around Corpus Christi, Victoria and South Houston that have been affected by power outages and other storm damage. Our technicians are working to restore service to affected areas as quickly and safely as conditions allow.”
AT&T has deployed seven portable cell sites, two charging stations and an emergency communications vehicle in South Texas and additional resources are arriving soon. “We are monitoring our network closely and are coordinating with emergency management officials and local utility companies,” stated the spokesman.
Verizon spokeswoman Karen Schulz told Inside Towers its network in Texas, “continues to withstand the severity of the storm’s impact with over 98 percent of our sites in service. As anticipated, flood waters are impacting the entire area and commercial power is out in many places throughout Texas, but back-up generators are running and we are on standby to refuel generators to ensure facilities continue operating.”
Verizon’s network teams and vendor partners are staffing the 24×7 wireless command center, assessing damage and mobilizing equipment and people needed for repairs, according to the spokeswoman. The carrier is in contact with federal, state and local emergency management teams and coordinating communication needs and efforts. In the coming days, Verizon plans to deploy its Wireless Emergency Communication Centers in the affected area. The centers are generator-powered mobile units on tractor trailers that have device charging and computer workstations, wireless phones, tablets and other devices.
The Sprint wireless network is performing well in the affected areas, the carrier told Inside Towers. “A relatively small number of cell sites are impacted due to commercial power outages, and the Sprint network in the area affected by Hurricane Harvey is 97 percent operational,” stated spokeswoman Adrienne Norton. “Our crews are in the field now deploying and refueling generators and making site repairs to get impacted sites back online.”
In response to Inside Towers’ query, T-Mobile stated: “We are still seeing about 20 percent network degradation in the Corpus Christi area due to damage from the storm as well as blocked roads, which are preventing us from making some repairs. Houston is doing fine despite the flooding and power outages.” The carrier approximates about a five percent network degradation there.
August 29, 2017
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