A Federal Communications Commission report says wireless carriers’ poor preparation and coordination lengthened communication outages in the Florida Panhandle after Hurricane Michael.
The Panama City News Herald reports that the FCC report made several recommendations for improvement in the future, such as wireless providers having pre-storm roaming agreements, mutual restoration deals and cooperation with local utilities.
Michael roared ashore in the Panhandle as a Category 5 storm in October and caused widespread devastation, including communications problems for thousands of people. Most power poles, cell and radio towers were knocked out of commission.
The News Herald reports that Verizon is investing $25 million to install its latest 5G wireless service in Panama City later this year, making it one of just 30 U.S. cities to get the new technology.
The FCC’s report came at the urging of Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis, who sent a letter and spoke with the FCC Chairman about recommending best practices to companies so they can pre-position equipment and be prepared to make repairs quickly after a hurricane passes.
“The FCC report released outlines what the Panhandle already knew: when communications systems fail, first responders and people are cut off,” Patronis said. “Having dealt with Hurricanes Hermine, Matthew, Irma and now Michael over the past nearly three years, we must better coordinate at every level—not just local, state, and federal government, but private and public entities as well.”
Patronis added wireless carriers pre-positioning equipment is essential to helping save lives and aiding first responders in recovery efforts.
“[B]y opening roaming agreements in the aftermath of a disaster, residents will be able to call for help and connect with their loved ones. Effective communication is necessary to save lives, and I’m calling on all telecoms carriers to step up and improve recovery response, redundancies, and forward-thinking strategies. It’s time disaster resiliency extends to wireless carriers,” he said.
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