With the second hurricane in the past several weeks set to hit Florida in the next 24 hours, a number of wireless carriers announced initiatives designed to lessen the possible impact on the state’s population and telecommunications infrastructure.
T-Mobile USA Inc. said it will offer free access to its more than 300 HotSpot access points in the state between today and Monday at Borders Books and Music, FedEx Kinko’s and Starbucks Coffee locations that are not forced to close due to Hurricane Frances.
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. reported a number of initiatives to bolster its network, including the installation of backup generators for cell sites and the deployment of engineers and technicians to monitor backup power, implementation of network staging areas in several communities where additional emergency equipment and personnel will be located for quick deployment, and the deployment of portable cell sites and generators near state emergency operations centers.
Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. announced similar plans for their respective networks in the state, as well as the donation of hundreds of handsets to local emergency services. Sprint added that it would use lessons learned from last month’s Hurricane Charley that hit Florida.
“Sprint responded very well to Hurricane Charley, but there are always new wrinkles with every situation,” said Lou Carrion, vice president of customer service operations in Florida for Sprint. “We took those experiences and have applied them to our preparations for Hurricane Frances. While there are always issues with major storms such as this, we have strengthened our processes for preparation and restoration.”
