Wireless carriers continued to make progress in re-establishing wireless communications to the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Katrina’s fierce landing Aug. 28, while one carrier estimated damage at up to $600 million.
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. reported that as of Monday afternoon it had fully restored service in Mobile, Ala., and Jackson, Miss., and that most coverage capacity has been re-established in and around Biloxi, Miss. The carrier said it also continues to make progress in restoring service in Meridian, Hattiesburg, and Gulfport, Miss., with customers in those markets able to send and receive calls at reduced levels.
Cingular also noted that some calls are going through in New Orleans and surrounding areas, including Hammond and Houma, La., but at reduced levels. The carrier added that it was using microwave and satellite connections to restore service in parts of New Orleans, and that it is re-routing calls outside of New Orleans as needed. Cingular said that many of the remaining outages primarily are due to issues with power and T1 lines in the area.
Cingular’s parent company BellSouth Corp. estimated that 810,000 lines remain impacted in the hardest-hit areas of the Gulf Coast. The company noted that 19 of its 131 central offices in the area still were not operating, and that those 19 offices served about 187,000 access lines, including 166,000 lines in the New Orleans area.
“Restoration begins with our central offices and high-capacity trunk lines, and the vast majority have been repaired,” said Bill Smith, chief technology officer at BellSouth. “We are making steady progress as we gain access. Most customers will be restored within 30 days.”
Smith added that some communities-including New Orleans-might take longer to rebuild in certain cases depending on when residents and business are able to return to those areas and the time it takes to rebuild needed local infrastructure.
“New Orleans is an atypical situation given the floodwaters and access issues, and because of this, we will track restoration activity in New Orleans separately,” Smith added.
BellSouth also released initial financial estimates of between $400 million and $600 million for both capital and expenses for network restoration.
Verizon Wireless said it was providing “good service with a few pockets of limited coverage” in areas southwest of New Orleans, including Houma, as well as in Slidell, Hammond, Mandeville, Lacombe, Covington, Metairie and Kenner. The carrier also reported good progress in areas north of Lake Pontchartrain as well as in Baton Rouge. Central New Orleans continues to have widespread outages with limited coverage, though Verizon Wireless said it has restored service at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
Verizon Wireless also noted that it was making progress in Mississippi, though some areas along the coast continue to experience limited service. The carrier’s network in Alabama and Florida impacted by the hurricane has had a majority of services restored with only a few areas of spotty coverage.
Sprint Nextel Corp. reported similar progress in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida noting that as of last Saturday more than 75 percent of wireless service in Mississippi impacted by the hurricane was restored. The carrier added that New Orleans was still a challenge due to flooding, power and safety concerns. Sprint Nextel also noted that it was rerouting long-distance wireline traffic in the area around New Orleans.
T-Mobile USA Inc. said it had restored wireless service to a “significant level” as of last Saturday in New Orleans, and that it had a high-capacity cell site running on generator power on top of the Crowne Plaza Hotel Astor on Canal Street. The carrier added that service now is available from many areas across downtown New Orleans as well as at the airport, and that it is enabling virtually all users of GSM phones roaming access to its network in the area.
Regional operators also reported continued progress.
Alltel Corp. said it has restored service in portions of Jackson, Miss., and much of Baton Rouge. The carrier said it was also focusing its restoration efforts south of Jackson, including Hattiesburg, Biloxi and Gulfport. Alltel added that the remainder of its Gulf Coast network also was improving, though minor outages remained in Mobile.
Nextel Partners Inc. said as of Tuesday morning it had restored more than 85 percent of its wireless services in the area impacted by the hurricane. Cellular South reported that its network is up and running in southern Mississippi.
