AT&T network operations were disrupted in Louisiana and other areas due to power outages across the state from the impact of Hurricane Ida. The network carrier finds out the hard way that poor planning and natural calamities are a recipe for distress and disaster.
Telecom major AT&T on Monday went under as Hurricane IdaOpens a new window made landfall in Louisiana. The company said it is operating at 60% capacity with “significant outages†across New Orleans and Baton Rouge. As a result, possibly thousands of people battered by the hurricane in the state’s southeastern part were left with no network coverage.
The hurricane itself caused significant storm damage and flooding. However, the impact to AT&T services could have been less severe if not for the lack of adequate power backups.
Reports of the AT&T outage started pouring in early in the morning yesterday around 6:00 AM CDT (7:00 AM EST). The outage peaked at 11:28 AM CDT (12:28 PM EST) according to real time status tracker Downdetector.
Aug 30 AT&T Outage (Time in IST) | Source: Downdetector
The company said on its network status update pageOpens a new window : “We had key network facilities go offline overnight, and while some have already been restored, some facilities remain down and are inaccessible due to flooding and storm damage.â€
AT&T is also leveraged by the FirstNet platform and tools dedicated for communication between first responders in case of emergencies such as Hurricane Ida. The company responded by deploying disaster recovery equipment including:
- Mobile cell sites and mobile command centers like Cell on Wheels (COWs) and Cell on Light Trucks (COLTs)
- Emergency communications vehicles (ECVs)
- Flying Cell on Wings (Flying COWs)
- High water vehicles
- Amphibious all-terrain vehicles
- Drones
- A self-sufficient base camp: This is complete with sleeping tents, bathrooms, kitchen, laundry facilities, an on-site nurse and meals ready to eat (MREs).
- Hazmat equipment and supplies
- Technology and support trailers to provide infrastructure support and mobile heating ventilation and air conditioning
- Internal and external resources for initial assessment and recovery efforts
See Also: AT&T Denies Breach Even as Data of 70M Users Goes on Sale
AT&T also alerted subscribers of its network that no one from the region will be charged for going over the data limits.
For those in the path of #IdaOpens a new window who have @ATTOpens a new window but not unlimited data, you won’t be charged for going over 👇🼠pic.twitter.com/zUlMgblsccOpens a new window
— Johnston von Springer (@johnstonvon) August 29, 2021Opens a new window
AT&T’s network was down even in MarylandOpens a new window , South FloridaOpens a new window , TennesseeOpens a new window according to user comments. Although it is unclear whether this was caused directly by the incident in Louisiana.
By 4:30 PM CDT (4:30 PM EST), 82% of AT&T network was restored. “We’ve made significant progress with restoration efforts and as of this afternoon more than 82 percent of our wireless network in Louisiana is operating normally. Our teams have been able to navigate storm damage to gain access to our network locations and we continue to deploy additional resources to assist with the recovery,†the company said.
“We have additional generators in the region and are deploying them as needed. Commercial power may not be restored soon, and we are prepared to maintain and refuel generators until commercial power is restored.â€
What’s Next?
As of this morning, 85% of theAT&T Louisiana network is up and running with minor impacts in Mississippi. T-Mobile services were also reduced to 70% while Verizon remained strong with gaps in some parts of the state.
Going by data from Downdetector, reports of the AT&T outage have started going up again as of 3:20 AM CDT (4:20 AM EST) on August 31.
Update | Aug 31, 2021
AT&T’s wireless network in Louisiana is operating at over 90% as of 9:00 PM CDT (10 PM EST) on August 31.
Update | Sep 1, 2021
AT&T’s wireless network in Louisiana is operating at over 94% as of 4:05 PM CDT (5:05 PM EST) on September 1.
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