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Workers need services and access
When the scope of the disaster became apparent, wireless companies began bringing in more personnel to assist with recovery. Providing for those workers—feeding and housing them, supplying necessary equipment and credentials—was a major logistical challenge.
T-Mobile brought in “rock star” tour buses to house its workers. Sprint Nextel set up “Sprint City” at the Baton Rouge fairgrounds. This was a fully functioning compound, with mess hall, kitchen, sleeping, and toilet and shower facilities enough for 300 to 400 people. Alltel spread out its workforce in three staging areas complete with tent cities and RVs: Pensacola, Fla., Jackson, Mississippi, and Baton Rouge.
Once the workers were there, getting them into emergency areas was often a hit-or-miss proposition. Some carriers experienced few problems. “We had good communications with the authorities, including the National Guard and local law enforcement,” says Green. “We had to rely on them to get us in and out of areas. We also relied on them for some reconnaissance, since we couldn’t put our eyes on every cell site. They utilized our service quite a bit, so they were willing to help us out.”
Many others, however, reported difficulties getting recovery workers past official barricades. “The other issue we had was security,” Fennell continues. “We would get escorts from state police or military into a given area. Sometimes they would escort us in and then leave, putting our crews in jeopardy.” Like several other carriers, Sprint Nextel eventually hired armed guards to travel with its crews. “It was a decision made at the highest level of our company. It really became an issue around protecting our people and keeping them safe versus getting the network up.”
Service demands surge after storm
Even as wireless providers restored services, the demand for those rose significantly above pre-storm levels. “We needed to almost double the capacity on our networks. We were doing emergency adds to our switch, capacity adds to our cell sites,” reports Leutenegger. “Shifting resources around to meet the needs was a constant challenge.”
Part of that increase came because wireless was the only link to the Internet. “The other providers—the landline based DSL, the cable, were all out of service,” he explains. Insurance adjusters, reporters, photographers, and businesses trying to reopen all used this wireless broadband for their work.
In addition, wireless carriers provided more than 25,000 phones, thousands of free minutes, constructed impromptu call centers in a variety of makeshift facilities such as recreational vehicles, and offered free batteries and chargers to emergency workers, evacuees, and others in devastated areas.
