With wildfires posing a threat to cell phone towers in Southern California earlier this week, at least a couple service providers report that their networks are performing well.
Verizon Wireless says it is keeping Los Angeles County firefighters and residents connected. The carrier donated nearly 100 Mobile Broadband cards for Internet access and more than 160 mobile phones with airtime for firefighters battling wildfires and for evacuees contacting loved ones and getting updates on their homes and communities.
As is typical during emergencies, carriers are adding capacity to coincide with spikes in call volume as residents are evacuated. Verizon says backup batteries and generators also have powered several sites during intermittent commercial power interruptions caused by the fires.
Sprint says it is staged to deploy additional wireless support to first responders through the Sprint Emergency Response Team (ERT), an organization made up of full-time, seasoned staff with experience in fire, emergency medical services (EMS), law enforcement, military communications and commercial network technology. Sprint believes it is the only organization of its kind in the wireless industry.