As Hurricane Isabel bore down on the U.S. eastern seaboard late last week, wireless carriers were confident their networks were already prepared for the worst. Unlike other recent emergencies, including Sept. 11, 2001, and the August power outage, Isabel was anticipated, giving operators time to put necessary plans in place. “These kinds of things [that can be projected] we’re always prepared for,” said AT&T Wireless spokesman Ritch Blasi.
And indeed, wireless carriers, including Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Sprint PCS, appeared to be ready for the storm, having implemented emergency procedure plans well before Isabel came ashore. Sprint said it actually began preparing for Isabel months ago, as part of its annual preparations for the hurricane season. Furthermore, urging from officials at the FCC’s Network Reliability & Interoperability Committee meeting last week that carriers ready their networks for the storm demonstrated the current expectation that wireless networks should be prepared for such emergencies.
Still, carriers were busy as they kicked those ongoing emergency plans into high gear early last week when the hurricane warnings began. “We have to get all our ducks in a row,” said Blasi of the company’s contingency plan.
As of 6 p.m. Thursday, Cingular said its service along the East Coast remained steady despite the power outages caused by Isabel. The carrier said its switches were all operational although a few cell sites in North Carolina, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore were out of service. Some cell sites were running on batteries or backup generators due to power outages. Cingular also said its Mobitex data network was operational, with some sites forced to use backup power.
Carrier emergency preparations for Isabel included ensuring backup generator fuel tanks were filled, backup batteries and emergency generators were in place, and fleets of portable generators and cells on wheels, or COWs, were ready for deployment. Emergency personnel were placed on standby to monitor conditions and respond to any necessary emergency restoration services. Several carriers also had stocked loaner phones for use by emergency personnel in the disaster areas and made sure call re-routing capabilities were in place for networks and customer-care centers that might be in affected areas.
In a release issued at the onset of Isabel, Verizon encouraged customers to make sure wireless phone batteries were charged and to have additional charged batteries or cigarette lighter chargers available. Verizon also suggested customers maintain a list of emergency numbers and distribute their wireless numbers to friends and family, and issued a reminder to hit the “send” key and give a location if dialing 911. Sprint suggested that customers make only emergency or essential calls during the storm. Fewer calls on the network would preserve battery capacity, giving the carrier additional time to move backup generators into affected areas.
Meanwhile, Motorola Inc., which provides mobile communications equipment to emergency personnel, had its employees on alert, ready to build and ship equipment to customers and to handle facility repair and recovery if needed. The vendor had also activated its Public Safety Emergency Ordering System, which allows immediate shipping of emergency equipment, and Thursday had already fulfilled several equipment orders for highway patrol units, Army National Guard units and county sheriff offices in Virginia and North Carolina.
Motorola also touted its Canopy wireless broadband system, which provides last-mile access, for its inherent reliability in the face of a monster like Isabel. According to Mobility Ltd., which has deployed Canopy in Bermuda, the broadband system stood strong when Hurricane Fabian ravaged the island earlier this month. Canopy equipment consists of an integrated subscriber module and an access point, both of which are designed to be easy to install and capable of withstanding physical environmental elements, including wind and ultraviolet radiation.
In addition to newfangled technologies, some older radio standards emerged as reliable points of communication during emergencies like Isabel. A group of volunteer Ham radio operators called the Hurricane Watch Net, for example, planned to take reports from people being affected by the hurricane to assist the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
“Without these ground-truth reports from the storm, forecasters would have to rely solely on computer models to predict the storm,” explained Mike Pilgrim, manager of the HWN. “The Hurricane Watch Net radio reports help them understand which model may be the best, or if their predictions are correct.”
