Katrina hampers long-distance, cell services

[Mobile Mike]

(AP) Cell phone service was spotty and long-distance callers met busy signals on Monday as Hurricane Katrina knocked out key telecommunications hubs along the Gulf Coast.

Most long-distance and cellular providers reported trouble, while the dominant local phone provider for the hurricane zone, BellSouth Corp., did not immediately quantify the extent of storm-related service disruptions.

Sprint Nextel Corp.'s long-distance switch in New Orleans failed soon after the storm hit, meaning no long distance call could be placed into or out of the area, said company spokesman Charles Fleckenstein. Customers who tried got busy signals or recordings informing them that all circuits are busy, he said. He attributed troubles to flooding and power loss.

Many of AT&T Corp.'s facilities in the area were operating on backup generator power but some were completely down, likely because of flooding. Long-distance calls could not be properly relayed along AT&T's Gulf Coast fiber-optics routes.

AT&T's traffic-management software was able to reroute some calls when spare capacity existed elsewhere, but spokesman Jim Byrnes said thousands of calls still were failing to get through. The company said Internet data networks were operating fine.

MCI Inc. spokeswoman Linda Laughlin said one fiber cable east of New Orleans was cut and other facilities had "some water issues." But she said customers faced at most a few seconds' delay as MCI rerouted calls to other cables.

There were no reports of the storm knocking down any cell phone towers, but many stopped working because of power problems.

Many of Sprint's cell towers in the New Orleans area switched to batteries or generators but could not be recharged because crews could not reach them, Fleckenstein said. Some towers stopped working completely by early afternoon, and many more were expected to fail as power loss continues, he said.

Cellular provider Cingular Wireless also reported service interruptions in the coastal communities of Mobile and Baldwin, Ala., because of power outages. Cingular also had problems in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, La., and Biloxi, Miss.

In Florida, about 46,000 BellSouth Corp. phone lines remained out of service, representing less than 2 percent of lines in the affected counties. The company said its crews already restored service to nearly 356,000 lines since the storm hit Florida late last week.

BellSouth officials did not return calls for comment on service outside Florida, nor did Verizon Wireless officials on the status of their cell towers and services.

Telecommunications companies generally had crews, supplies and parts on standby to restore facilities and services once emergency officials clear them.

Cingular said it had distributed more than 500 emergency generators, placed 240,000 gallons of fuel in them or on standby and had 25 teams ready to deploy to replace and refuel the generators once conditions are safe.

Retrieved from WWL-TV CBS 4 New Orleans

[ShoresGuy]

Now that's what I call an interesting article, the comparison between the landline and cell networks made for quite a cool read. It's just surprising to hear that no towers were knocked. Obviously, they're built to withstand major winds but with such a strong hurricane passing through you'd expect to see some structural damage for them as well.

[Fire14]

Originally Posted by ShoresGuy Now that's what I call an interesting article, the comparison between the landline and cell networks made for quite a cool read. It's just surprising to hear that no towers were knocked. Obviously, they're built to withstand major winds but with such a strong hurricane passing through you'd expect to see some structural damage for them as well.

I agree, I would have expected to hear some towers fell or were damaged other then flooding or phone line problems, but I guess they design them to withstand over 200 MPH winds.
I just hope 1st people made it thru the storm and there is no loss of life.
It will be interesting to see how fast they can restore power & phone service down there, especially with the flooding.

[bobolito]

Here's Cingular's official press release:

http://www.cingularhurricaneupdates.com/

[bobolito]

Originally Posted by Fire14 I agree, I would have expected to hear some towers fell or were damaged other then flooding or phone line problems, but I guess they design them to withstand over 200 MPH winds.

This TV station lost its tower in Biloxi, Mississippi.

[Bugwart]

The situation in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish seems to be deteriorating as the water continues to rise. Even with back up power (whether it is diesel generator, fuel cell, or batteries) the cellular systems will only go for a few days without restoration of power.

Diesel generators can maintain power as long as they have diesel, however refueling them in a badly flooded area is not going to be easy. The first priority will most likely be the diesel generators running the pumps.

[Jerro]

Originally Posted by Bugwart The situation in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish seems to be deteriorating as the water continues to rise. Even with back up power (whether it is diesel generator, fuel cell, or batteries) the cellular systems will only go for a few days without restoration of power. Diesel generators can maintain power as long as they have diesel, however refueling them in a badly flooded area is not going to be easy. The first priority will most likely be the diesel generators running the pumps.

I believe that we will see that mobile sites will be erected ASAP. I understand that barges are in route for power generation in general

[Bugwart]

I wonder how much general power there will be until the water is pumped out of Jeferson Parish.

I certainly think that we will see generator barges supplying hospitals, other health care as well as public safety facilities. Cell phone towers would rank high on the list, but below these.

[Andy]

But what good do cell towers if trunk lines connecting them to switches are not working and if switches themselves are down.

[bobolito]

Originally Posted by Andy84094 But what good do cell towers if trunk lines connecting them to switches are not working and if switches themselves are down.

They have something called "microwave links"

This way they can route calls to whichever MSC is working.

[ShoresGuy]

Here's a definition of the MSC:

MSC

A Mobile Switching Center (MSC) is the electronic field office of a cellular carrier, a computer-controlled switch for managing automated network operations. An MSC automatically coordinates and controls call setup and routing between mobile phones in a given service area. MSCs are connected to base stations by T1 landlines or microwave channels, and by landlines to the Public Service Telephone Network (PSTN).

MSCs maintain individual subscriber records, current status of subscribers, and information on call routing and billing in two subscriber databases called the Home Location Register (HLR) and the Visitor Location Register (VLR). The HLR contains subscriber profiles, while the VLR provides information relevant to roamers.

http://developers.sun.com/techtopics.../articles/sms/

[Andy]

Originally Posted by bobolito They have something called "microwave links" This way they can route calls to whichever MSC is working.

But as far as I know, not every cellsite, epecially in urban areas, has microwave links.

[ShoresGuy]

How about isolated places like deserts or large mountainous areas in the Midwest? I would expect microwave links up there since it's hard to imagine that they would run miles and miles of cables/wires through such areas where a cell tower isn't needed every 1/2 mile.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by ShoresGuy How about isolated places like deserts or large mountainous areas in the Midwest? I would expect microwave links up there since it's hard to imagine that they would run miles and miles of cables/wires through such areas where a cell tower isn't needed every 1/2 mile.

That I agree with, but I just don't think that cellsites in the middle of downtown New Orleans all have microwave backhaul.

[roamer1]

Originally Posted by Andy84094 That I agree with, but I just don't think that cellsites in the middle of downtown New Orleans all have microwave backhaul.

You'd be surprised as to how much MW is used in southeast Louisiana -- the terrain helps, and there's always been a lot of MW used for connections to offshore oil platforms and on land for pipeline and other infrastructure monitoring (SCADA) so it's something people in that area are familiar with.

-SC

[bobolito]

Not only that, but I was referring to the COWs which are temporarily installed and can be setup quickly using MW to bypass the non-working wireline networks.

[WirelessBeachBum]

Yes and all of the wireless telco switches I have seen run on DC power, a big battery room that actually powers the equipment. Commercial power is used to keep the batteries charged, and when commercial power goes out the generators are switched on. So unless it's underwater many switches should be operational. Of course if the connection the the PSTN (landline telco companies) is down then you run into some problems, that you don't have as much control over.