Latest from 5G/6G & Fixed Wireless Access/Mobile Evolution
Telecom Network Restoration Heroes
Providers Give Kudos to Those Who Went Above and Beyond —
At the time of writing this, the toll from the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season is still being remedied. However, according to Wikipedia, this deadly, and extremely destructive season featured 17 named storms, ranking alongside 1936 as the fifth-most active season since records began in 1851, and the most active since 2010. "The season also featured both the highest total accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) and the highest number of major hurricanes since 2005. All 10 of the season’s hurricanes occurred in a row, the greatest number of consecutive hurricanes in the satellite era. In addition, it was by far the costliest season on record, with a preliminary total of over $369.76 billion (USD) in damages, which is nearly 3 times the cost of 2005’s total, and essentially all of which was due to 3 of the season’s major hurricanes: Harvey, Irma, and Maria. This season is also one of only 6 years on record to feature multiple Category 5 hurricanes, and only the second to feature 2 hurricanes making landfall at that intensity."*
To help combat some of Mother Nature’s force, telecom teams spent countless hours trying to repair the wireline and wireless networks in the affected areas. Caring technicians, managers, and others, invested time and energy to help those affected. And while we can’t thank all of them personally, we ask you to read about a few select individuals and teams we applaud for going above and beyond.
After reading this, please take a moment to thank your own network teams for investing more than we can really know to help others throughout the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season.
*Source: www.wikipedia.com
Many of Southern Region Field Services Manager Robert Coontz’s team, chose to stay behind during Hurricane Irma to help keep the generators fueled and restore services for our customers. 21 technicians, including contractors, arrived in St. Marys, Ga., to clear fallen trees and protect generators. Thank you to the team for your
preparedness, putting employee safety first, and all your efforts in the recovery process.
Leaving behind a path of destruction, TDS’ technicians worked to remove debris and fallen trees to restore phone, Internet, and TDS TV service as quickly as possible.
Lance Torres, Electronic Technician, AT&T, volunteered to ride out the storm in a Key West central office during Hurricane Irma. This CO supports communications for the city and hospitals in the area. After the storm, there was no water available to cool the air conditioner, making the office heat up rapidly. To prevent the equipment from heat failure, Lance worked with the local fire department to pump water from the community pool into the truck, and then into our office. Working through additional issues simultaneously, Lance kept multiple offices and services running.
By Melanie Williams, Senior Vice President-Operations for Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina
By Pedro Correa, Senior Vice President-Operations for Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah
By Lanita Richardson, Area Operations Manager
David Morris, Communications Technician, didn’t hesitate to help restore services impacted by Hurricane Harvey, despite his own house in Port Aransas sustaining 5 feet of water and his family needing to be relocated. David was the first to arrive back on the island once access was allowed and was determined to keep CenturyLink’s central office running on a generator while power was out. David’s perseverance kept critical government services operational, during the hurricane and the clean-up.
An engineer with Sprint’s Emergency Response Team deploys a satellite (VSAT) link for backhaul to restore service to nearby cell sites in Puerto Rico.
By Stuart Burson, Associate Director, Satellite Solutions Group
While deployed to the Florida Keys following Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Chris Mundorf, an engineer with Verizon’s Satellite Solutions Group, heard from a large Verizon customer needing restoration help in Puerto Rico.
For 2 weeks, Chris and a team the customer had assembled, made site visits to 45 locations and "MacGyvered" together antennas to restore critical satellite services at each site.
On more than one occasion, the customer questioned whether Verizon would be able to get the site restored, based on the condition of the equipment. But in every case, Chris and the team proved the customer wrong!
