Fiber Damage Vexes Verizon After Hurricane Michael
October 14 2018 - 9:30PM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Krouse
Hurricane Michael has caused such extensive damage to the fiber
that underpins Verizon Communications Inc.'s wireless network that
it has stymied the carrier's efforts to restore service to parts of
the hardest-hit areas of the Florida Panhandle.
Verizon's network suffered "an unprecedented amount of fiber
damage" in those areas during Hurricane Michael, said spokeswoman
Karen Schulz. Wireless service problems have persisted for the
carrier in parts of Panama City, Panama City Beach and Mexico
Beach.
Fiber is a crucial part of modern wireless networks, but it can
be damaged by heavy winds and flying tree limbs and other debris.
Verizon, the largest U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers, had
aerial and underground fiber in the area damaged by Michael.
"Our overwhelming problem is fiber," said Ms. Schulz. Even as
the carrier repairs some fiber, recovery and cleanup efforts can
cause trees and debris to create new cuts, she said.
"As soon as we get fiber repaired there's another cut in it,"
Ms. Schulz said. "It's certainly taking longer than we would want
it to."
A number of mobile cell sites the carrier deployed to help
restore service are also reliant on fiber, which has further
delayed service restoration.
Verizon has some mobile cell towers in place that rely on
satellites or microwave radios in lieu of direct fiber connections
and on Sunday secured permission from the Federal Aviation
Administration to launch a manned aircraft to provide LTE service
from the air, Ms Schulz said.
Barbara Jernigan, 56, of the Cove area of Panama City, said her
T-Mobile US Inc. service worked throughout the week, but that many
of her neighbors with service from other carriers were without cell
service.
"It looks like a war zone here," she said, adding that
100-year-old oak trees were uprooted by the storm. She and her
husband are trying to leave town because they were told they would
be without power and water for at least a month.
A neighbor who is a Verizon customer without cellphone service
begged her to leave her phone behind with him, she said.
"My neighbor said, 'I'd pay anything if you let me keep your
phone,' and I said, 'I have my life on it.' He's going to try to
get a burner phone, " Ms. Jernigan said.
AT&T Inc. has lent about 500 smartphones to military
personnel and first responders in the Panhandle who lost service,
said Chris Sambar, senior vice president of FirstNet at AT&T.
AT&T in 2017 won a $6.5 billion federal contract to build out
FirstNet over five years that came with a swath of valuable
airwaves.
The FirstNet program enabled the carrier to buy more large
mobile cell towers on trucks that rely on satellites than AT&T
had previously, he said, and some of those have been deployed in
Florida. That equipment can provide a wide radius of service, but
is costly.
The program is intended to provide wireless data coverage and
priority access for first responders during emergencies, but also
benefits AT&T customers. In the case of Hurricane Michael,
AT&T subscribers in areas where the carrier has deployed
FirstNet infrastructure have been able to "piggyback" off the
service, Mr. Sambar said.
Jessica Nicolosi Banks, 39, of Panama City, had enough internet
service on her Sprint Corp. phone to access Facebook, even though
she couldn't send text messages or make calls.
She and a friend walked around the surrounding area with axes,
clearing trees and looking for friends and neighbors who couldn't
reach loved ones, earning the nickname "the Cove angels" from some
neighbors.
The pair sent about a dozen people photos or messages through
the social media site to say that a missing family member or friend
was safe.
"I was like, 'Hey, have you made contact?' and people said no,"
she said.
Write to Sarah Krouse at sarah.krouse@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 14, 2018 21:15 ET (01:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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