In Sandy's Wake, 19% Of Cell Phone Towers Still Out
Repair crews are working around the clock to get cell towers that are damaged or deprived of power due to Hurricane Sandy running again, and these heroic efforts are beginning to show results,
according to FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief David Turetsky.
He said that the proportion of cell towers that are out of service in the region affected by Sandy has fallen
from 25% in the immediate aftermath to 19% at the end of the week.
Although it is rare for cell phone towers to topple over in high winds, electronic and structural elements are
vulnerable to windblown debris and flooding at ground level, and emergency backup generators may also begin to run out of fuel.
According to The New York Times, state and
federal authorities have reached agreements with major fuel suppliers to secure enough gasoline and diesel to enable further emergency operations, including search and rescue, cleanup, and repair
work.
Presumably some fuel has also been set aside for generators powering communications networks. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski noted that “the supply of fuel to generators is
essential to keep communications service up and running, and we’re working with federal, state, and local authorities to speed fuel delivery. This is a priority because our commercial
communications networks are essential to emergency response and recovery efforts, as well as to commercial activities and connecting with family.”
Of course, continuing power
outages can also render individual mobile devices inoperative, further disrupting communications networks.
According to Reuters, on Friday afternoon over 1.2 million homes and businesses in New York State and 1.5 million in New Jersey were still without power, including 569,000 in New York City and Westchester County, NY. Across the Northeast a total of about 3.6 million customers are without power, down from 8.5 million immediately following the storm.
Recent Online Media Daily Articles
-
Path Seeks Dismissal Of Wireless-Spam Case May 23, 5:07 p.m.
Mobile social network Path is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the ... -
Amazon Appstore Goes Global May 23, 4:59 p.m.
Amazon may have been late to the app store game, but that hasn’t stopped it from ... -
Data Is Springboard For Product Development May 23, 4:44 p.m.
iProspect named Ben Wood to global president Thursday; he's tasked with growing the company's network and ... -
Vice, Twitter Partner For Mobile Show May 23, 2:14 p.m.
Simultaneously expanding its video and social strategy, Vice on Thursday unveiled #dailyvice -- a daily show ... -
MediaVest Database Charts Brand Experience, Social Media Impact May 23, 12:11 p.m.
After a year-long research effort, Publicis Groupe’s MediaVest has created a massive database designed to help ... -
Discovery Launches TestTube.com, Ups Digital Video Involvement May 23, 11:27 a.m.
Discovery Communications is looking to get into the digital video platforms in a big way -- ... -
Network Advertising Initiative Proposes New Mobile Privacy Rules May 22, 9:03 p.m.
Moving forward with its plan to issue mobile privacy rules, the self-regulatory group Network Advertising Initiative ... -
Entertainment, Travel Bet On Mobile Banners May 22, 4:16 p.m.
Banner ads have long been the whipping boy of online advertising, and the same is now ... -
Marketers Should Tailor Specific Pitches To Tablet, Smartphone May 22, 2:51 p.m.
Don’t lump tablets in with mobile. That’s the takeaway of a new Forrester study looking at ... -
Good TV Content Trumps All, Trad TV Or Streaming May 22, 2:42 p.m.
While consumers continue to perceive TV programming as superior in quality to that of online fare, ...
Be the first to comment on "In Sandy's Wake, 19% Of Cell Phone Towers Still Out"
Leave a Comment