If you’re on the east coast of the U.S.A. this weekend, you probably know about Hurricane Irene. There’s a lot of hype on the news about this storm as it’s about the size of Europe and aimed straight for New York City and New England. While many should be concerned about their lives, water supply, and electricity, T-Mobile is working to make sure your mobile phones have reception in case you need them.
Throughout New England and the Carolinas, T-Mobile has:
– Portable and backup generators, staged and topped off with fuel;
– Repair and transport vehicles ready to go;
– Battery backup at all critical sites;
– Microwave radio equipment in case land lines serving cell sites fail;
– Engineers on call in neighboring areas to the storm’s path; and
– Cells-On-Wheels (COWs) pre-staged to move in and provide additional wireless capacity in hard-hit areas.
They’ve also offered up a few tips to help keep the network up and running:
– Use text messaging to communicate instead of voice calls. Text messaging has a greater success rate in getting through the network during high-usage periods.
– Keep your calls short in duration.
– Utilize Wi-Fi calling if your device has the feature. This feature takes advantage of your in-home data connection to place calls in case the cellular network is congested or down.
– Make sure your phone is fully charged prior to the storm. Consider obtaining a vehicle charger in the event of power loss.
I think I’m ready for the potential power outages expected in New York with my Boxwave USB AA Battery adapter and pile of AA batteries. Hopefully I’ll be able to stay connected via T-Mobile as well!
Source: T-Mobile Blog
Top Photo: Floodwaters lap at the foundation of a house along Calico Creek in Morehead City, N.C. (Travis Long / Zuma Press)
Originally published on Pocketnow on August 27, 2011. More Smartphone News articles from the Pocketnow archive.