Telecom Community Preps for Hurricane Matthew

As Hurricane Matthew travels towards the East Coast, telecom providers are staging equipment and calling in extra tower crews to prepare for and minimize power outages if possible. Verizon Wireless is fine-tuning hurricane prep in coastal markets and local network teams are prepared to travel to help regions hardest-hit by the storm.

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Links and resources:
FEMA Alert Warning System
Email and SMS Weather Alert Services
DownDetector: shows concentration of reports about service being ‘down’

State Emergency Alert Plans and Chairpersons:
Florida
Georgia North Carolina: EAS Chairperson, WRAL-FM, 3100 Highwood Blvd., Raleigh, NC 27604,  phone: (919) 890-6104
South Carolina: Plan: John George, Audio Broadcasting Group, Lexington, SC 29073  phone: (803) 951-7443

 

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Since last year’s storms, Verizon has enhanced its 4G network by adding capacity to cell sites, fortifying coverage along evacuation routes and deploying advanced LTE technology. It’s also installed new in-building network systems at hospitals, government and emergency facilities and other high-traffic public locations.

The company has a number of “super-switch” network processing centers, which are designed to withstand Category 5 hurricanes. With hardened shells, these facilities also feature large-scale on-site power generation, various redundant operations and technologies, and other backup systems to ensure the company’s network remains operational. Continue Reading