New York – Verizon Communications may take another two weeks to restore telecommunication services for its customers after flooding and power outages knocked out services during Hurricane Sandy, according to a top executive for the company.
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The provider of telephone, Internet and television services is still working on pumping water out of central offices with key telecom equipment in order to restore its services, Tom Maguire, senior vice president for national operations support, told Reuters.
Verizon is using tens of thousands of gallons of fuel every day in back-up generators powering telecom equipment and in vehicles that are working in affected areas.
But despite reports of fuel shortages at gas stations around the region Maguire said he is “pretty confident” the company will have access to enough fuel supplies.
Noch a mazel I have sprint.
Thats why it makes sense to have at least two cellphones from different carriers (since the cell towers may run out of backup battery power) or at least one and also to have several backup batteries for your phone and PDA. I’m amazed at the number of people who have no clue that regular phones may have power from the low voltage signal on the line but are useless if the lines are not working. Cell phones are not 100 percent reliable but to you have to be a complete moron to rely only on copper line communications. If you are in a situation where you MUST have communication 24×7 than buy a sattelite phone (like the one we rented last year when we went hiking in Alaska). They are able to communicate with anyone outside the affected area no matter what the conditions. They are a bit more expensive than regular phone but worth the cost if your need for contact is very hight.
To #2 - You forgot to mention that people should not bundle their cable tv service, with their telephone service. If power goes out, everything is lost. However, the land line telephone service will usually function on its own, even during a power blackout. Unfortunately, this was a unique situation, since the buried telephone cables, were flooded. However, in the past, during the NYC blackouts of 1965, 1977, and 2003, the land line telephone service worked. The only other times when service failed, was when the system was overwhelmed; for instance, following the assassination of J.F.K., in 1963, and following the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, the telephone system was so overwhelmed, that people could not get dial tone for days, in some cases.
They knocked out voicemail also.