Carriers Offer Free Services in Wake of Hurricane Harvey Wireless and fixed-line ISPs are lending a hand in the wake of the devastation caused over the weekend by Hurricane Harvey. Of the 7,804 cell sites across the impacted region, 320 are out of service, or about 4% notes the FCC. The hardest-hit areas are Aransas County, Refugio County, Calhoun County and San Patricio County, notes the agency. All told, at least 148,565 people in the path of the hurricane were without cable or wireline service as of Sunday, according to the FCC's report.

Many cell towers have battery backups or backup generators to ensure towers remain online, but getting to these towers with the level of devastation is proving unsurprisingly difficult. “Verizon’s network continues to perform well throughout the storm’s impacted area,” Verizon tells the Wall Street Journal. “As anticipated, commercial power is out in many places throughout Texas, but backup generators are running and refueling vendors are on standby to ensure facilities continue operating.” Sprint also stated "a relatively small number of cell sites are impacted due to commercial power outages but overall the network is holding up well." T-Mobile similarly noted that while there is damage to its network, it's less than the carrier saw during previous storms like Hurricane Matthew. Verizon says that it's giving consumers in the impacted area free phone and some free data until September 8. "Sometimes life throws the unexpected at you, and it could mean using extra data that you weren't planning on needing," Verizon said on its website. "Verizon is offering 3GB of bonus data to qualified Texas counties, so you can stay connected when it matters most." Sprint and T-Mobile say they're providing free access to texting and phone service to users in the impacted area until September 1. Comcast also says the company has opened up its network of WiFi hotspots to provide an additional layer of access to storm victims. It took a little longer, but AT&T Monday also acknowledged they're also doling out free bill credits. “Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by Hurricane Harvey and all of those who have friends and family there,” AT&T said in a statement. “Through at least Sept. 1, 2017, AT&T will issue credits to AT&T Wireless customers in impacted areas for additional data, voice and text charges, and AT&T PREPAID for additional voice and text charges.” “Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by Hurricane Harvey and all of those who have friends and family there,” AT&T said in a statement. “Through at least Sept. 1, 2017, AT&T will issue credits to AT&T Wireless customers in impacted areas for additional data, voice and text charges, and AT&T PREPAID for additional voice and text charges.”







News Jump Charter Relaunches Free 60-day Internet And Wi-Fi Offer; NCTA: FCC Should Stick With 25/3 Speed Threshold; + more news Comcast Shuts Off Internet for Subs Who Were Sold Service Illegally; AT&T, Verizon Team To Stop T-Mobile 5G; + more news California Defends Its Net Neutrality Law; AT&T's Traffic Up 20% Despite Data Traffic Actually Being Down; + more news Are The Comcast-Charter X1 Talks Dead In The Water?; AT&T May Offer Phone Plans With Ads For Discounts; + more news Europe's Top Court: Net Neutrality Rules Bar Zero Rating; ViacomCBS To Rebrand CBS All Access As Paramount+; + more news Verizon To Buy Reseller TracFone For $7B; 5G Not The Competitive Threat To Cable Many Thought It Would Be; + more news MS.Wants Records From AT&T On $300M Project; Google Fiber Outages In Austin, Houston, Other Texan Cities; + more news States With The Biggest Decreases In Speed; AT&T Hopes You'll Forget Its Fight Against Accurate Maps; + more news AT&T's CEO Has A Familiar $olution To US Broadband Woes; EarthLink Files Suit Against Charter; + more news 5G Doesn't Live Up To Hype, AT&T's 5G Slower Than Its 4G; Cord-Cutting Now In 37% of Broadband Households; + more news ---------------------- this week last week most discussed

Most recommended from 46 comments



jmn1207

Premium Member

join:2000-07-19

Sterling, VA 16 recommendations jmn1207 Premium Member Comcast Meanwhile, Comcast will probably send a bill to those unfortunate folks that lost everything to the flood, demanding that they pay some exorbitant amount for the set-top boxes that are most likely destroyed.

tshirt

Premium Member

join:2004-07-11

Snohomish, WA 12 recommendations tshirt Premium Member It's a good thing, but.... ...It's amazing how many DEPEND on that cell phone to save them, but can't be bothered to put a cheap radio, fresh batteries, etc in a ziplock bag, in with their storm/earthquake/emergency supply box

lack of info of what's going on beyond your line of sight makes for a lot of poor choices in these situations and while 2 way is nice having direct info of what's next can be a lifesaver.

ths is going to be fully tested in the next few days if the weathermen are correct.

SpottedCat

join:2004-06-27

Miami, FL 6 recommendations SpottedCat Member Allow roaming between carriers The carriers would do good to allow full, free roaming between their networks. This way, if an AT&T tower is down in an area, their customers can roam on T-Mobile, and vice versa.



This would help fill in coverage gaps until the carriers can repair their equipment and power is restored.