T-Mobile: 85% Network Service Restored Back to New York After Hurricane Sandy

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction many people have been left without power and as a result wireless carriers have been working tirelessly to ensure their customers maintain cell service. T-Mobile was successful in harnessing “new technology capabilities” and was able to restore coverage in Manhattan where power has become available, including the East Village, Lower East Side, Chelsea and around the World Financial Center. This progress now brings approximately 85 percent of T-Mobile’s network in New York City back to a restored status.

“Network technicians are working as quickly as possible to restore service by deploying generators to cell sites where power outages continue and to repair damage caused by high winds and flooding,” T-Mobile said in a company statement.

T-Mobile Statement:
Today T-Mobile has restored wireless service to customers in many key areas of Manhattan impacted by an ongoing power outage through the deployment of temporary cell sites atop the company’s major switching facility in Tribeca. Leveraging new technology capabilities, we are able to provide broad coverage from a single location, ahead of power restoration to the hundreds of cell sites that normally serve this area.  The company has also restored service in parts of Manhattan where power has become available, including the East Village, Lower East Side, Chelsea and around the World Financial Center.

The size, scope, and impact of hurricane Sandy are unprecedented in the U.S. in terms of geographic area, location, and population density. Ahead of the storm, T-Mobile’s rapid response engineering teams staged equipment in and nearby the areas most severely impacted by storm, such as lower Manhattan, Staten Island, Long Island, coastal and Northern New Jersey, and we are continuing to work around the clock to restore service.