FCC Provides Hurricane Sandy Cellphone Disruption Data

Yesterday it was reported that 25% of cell phone towers in 10 states had been knocked out by Hurricane Sandy, as well as 25% of cable services, and a small number of emergency call centers. Now, according to the FCC, that number has dropped a few percentage points. Homes without cable TV and wired broadband is now "well under 20-percent."

Verizon has reported that 6-percent of its cell towers are down in the storm's path, but that its data and switching centers are fine. Sprint and AT&T didn't offer a statement on how they've been affected. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has reported that in New York, 20-percent of its cell network was down, as well as up to 10-percent in Washington. T-Mobile and AT&T announced earlier today that their respective customers in New York and New Jersey will have access to both companies' networks to increase the odds of getting service in the areas.

Said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, "The crisis is not over. Over all, the condition of our communications networks is improving, but serious outages remain, particularly in New York, New Jersey, and other hard-hit areas." The FCC is continuing to expect the worse. Unfortunately, neither carriers nor the Federal Communications Commission have offered a statement on when customers can expect full service again.

Finally, the emergency calls centers that went down as a result of the storm have all been restored. According to the FCC's Chief of Public Safety, all emergency calls will be received at 911 centers. Still, "a limited number" of emergency calls center still cannot see the caller's location, and some calls are still being rerouted to other centers.

[via New York Times]