Fiber Damage Vexes Verizon After Hurricane Michael

By Sarah Krouse 

Hurricane Michael has caused such extensive damage to the fiber that underpins Verizon Communications Inc.'s wireless network that it has stymied the carrier's efforts to restore service to parts of the hardest-hit areas of the Florida Panhandle.

Verizon's network suffered "an unprecedented amount of fiber damage" in those areas during Hurricane Michael, said spokeswoman Karen Schulz. Wireless service problems have persisted for the carrier in parts of Panama City, Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach.

Fiber is a crucial part of modern wireless networks, but it can be damaged by heavy winds and flying tree limbs and other debris. Verizon, the largest U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers, had aerial and underground fiber in the area damaged by Michael.

"Our overwhelming problem is fiber," said Ms. Schulz. Even as the carrier repairs some fiber, recovery and cleanup efforts can cause trees and debris to create new cuts, she said.

"As soon as we get fiber repaired there's another cut in it," Ms. Schulz said. "It's certainly taking longer than we would want it to."

A number of mobile cell sites the carrier deployed to help restore service are also reliant on fiber, which has further delayed service restoration.

Verizon has some mobile cell towers in place that rely on satellites or microwave radios in lieu of direct fiber connections and on Sunday secured permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to launch a manned aircraft to provide LTE service from the air, Ms Schulz said.

Barbara Jernigan, 56, of the Cove area of Panama City, said her T-Mobile US Inc. service worked throughout the week, but that many of her neighbors with service from other carriers were without cell service.

"It looks like a war zone here," she said, adding that 100-year-old oak trees were uprooted by the storm. She and her husband are trying to leave town because they were told they would be without power and water for at least a month.

A neighbor who is a Verizon customer without cellphone service begged her to leave her phone behind with him, she said.

"My neighbor said, 'I'd pay anything if you let me keep your phone,' and I said, 'I have my life on it.' He's going to try to get a burner phone, " Ms. Jernigan said.

AT&T Inc. has lent about 500 smartphones to military personnel and first responders in the Panhandle who lost service, said Chris Sambar, senior vice president of FirstNet at AT&T. AT&T in 2017 won a $6.5 billion federal contract to build out FirstNet over five years that came with a swath of valuable airwaves.

The FirstNet program enabled the carrier to buy more large mobile cell towers on trucks that rely on satellites than AT&T had previously, he said, and some of those have been deployed in Florida. That equipment can provide a wide radius of service, but is costly.

The program is intended to provide wireless data coverage and priority access for first responders during emergencies, but also benefits AT&T customers. In the case of Hurricane Michael, AT&T subscribers in areas where the carrier has deployed FirstNet infrastructure have been able to "piggyback" off the service, Mr. Sambar said.

Jessica Nicolosi Banks, 39, of Panama City, had enough internet service on her Sprint Corp. phone to access Facebook, even though she couldn't send text messages or make calls.

She and a friend walked around the surrounding area with axes, clearing trees and looking for friends and neighbors who couldn't reach loved ones, earning the nickname "the Cove angels" from some neighbors.

The pair sent about a dozen people photos or messages through the social media site to say that a missing family member or friend was safe.

"I was like, 'Hey, have you made contact?' and people said no," she said.

Write to Sarah Krouse at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 14, 2018 21:15 ET (01:15 GMT)

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