Tips & News > Phone Services > Phone Companies Prepare for Hurricane Season

Phone Companies Prepare for Hurricane Season

Phone companies prepare for severe storms.

After the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, phone providers across the nation have redoubled their efforts to ensure their customers will be able to communicate to their loved ones no matter what the next hurricane season will bring. Some of the companies that have made an effort to assure their customers of their readiness for hurricane season include BellSouth and Sprint.

BellSouth released that they have made great strides to be prepared for the upcoming hurricane season. One of the most critical issues to BellSouth after a storm is providing power to its network in the event that commercial power is lost. BellSouth has further increased its supply of generators to power the network immediately after a storm hits. In addition, many of BellSouth local digital loop carrier and switching facilities now house permanent generators, some of which are fueled by natural gas and do not require re-fueling.

"Over the past nine months, BellSouth has remained intently focused on restoration efforts in New Orleans and preparations for the 2006 hurricane season. We are enhancing our already robust storm-preparedness activities to ensure that communications services can be maintained, or restored quickly, after any weather-related events," said Bill Smith, BellSouth's chief technology officer.

Sprint Nextel is preparing for the hurricane season by expanding the scope of the Sprint Nextel Emergency Response Team (ERT). The ERT works with public safety agencies and other customers to coordinate communications during emergencies and other large-scale events and provide customers with three key resources — personnel, equipment and infrastructure — during disaster response and recovery efforts.

The Katrina and Rita events emphasized the need for well thought out emergency planning and response plans, and these and other phone providers are making sure that their consumers' needs are met during the next hurricane season.