Media Kit: AT&T Vital Connections
Restoration After Irene
August 31, 2011
AT&T crews continue to make significant progress in restoring service to customers in areas impacted by Hurricane Irene. A large percentage of cell sites along the East coast that were impacted due to loss of commercial power and storm damage have been restored, and AT&T is continuing to work around-the-clock until service is restored for all customers.
Overview
Hurricane Irene Planning Tips
Our customers' and employees' safety is a top priority. To help customers prepare, AT&T is providing important communication tips for use before, during and after a storm.
Keep your wireless phone batteries charged at all times. Have an alternative plan to recharge your battery in case of a power outage, such as charging your wireless device by using your car charger or having extra mobile phone batteries or disposable mobile phone batteries on hand.
Keep your wireless phone dry. The biggest threat to your device during a hurricane or tornado is water, so keep your equipment safe from the elements by storing it in a baggie or some other type of protective covering.
Have a family communication plan in place. Designate someone out of the area as a central contact, and make certain that all family members know who to contact if they become separated. Most important, practice your emergency plan in advance.
Program all of your emergency contact numbers and e-mail addresses into your mobile phone. Numbers should include the police department, fire station and hospital, as well as your family members.
Forward your home number to your wireless number in the event of an evacuation. Because call forwarding is based out of the telephone central office, you will get incoming calls from your landline phone even if your local telephone service is disrupted at your home. In the unlikely event that the central office is not operational, services such as Voicemail, Call Forwarding, Remote Access call forwarding and call forwarding busy line/don't answer may be useful.
Track the storm and access weather information on your wireless device. Many homes lose power during severe weather. If you have a wireless device that provides access to the Internet, you can watch weather reports through AT&T U-verse Live TV or keep updated with local radar and severe weather alerts through My-Cast® Weather, if you subscribe to those services.
Camera phones provide assistance. If you have a camera phone, take, store and send photos - even video clips - of damaged property to your insurance company from your device.
Take advantage of location-based mapping technology. Services such as AT&T Navigator and AT&T FamilyMap can help you seek evacuation routes or avoid traffic congestion from downed trees or power lines, as well as track a family member's wireless device in case you get separated.
Hurricane Season 2011
We want to be able to respond swiftly when disaster strikes, so we're constantly working to maximize network reliability through extensive preparations.
AT&T continues to enhance network redundancy in hurricane-prone areas. These efforts include installation of more back-up and permanent generators at critical cell sites and switching facilities, location of critical equipment to less vulnerable areas, upgrade of electronics in many locations, replacement of copper wiring with fiber optic cable, elevation of switches critical to network operations above expected flood levels and protection of physical facilities against flooding.
Read our hurricane preparedness tips for consumers and small business owners.
Helping You Prepare
At AT&T we're prepared for emergencies, and we're helping our customers prepare for disasters with a variety of resources.
Assessment Tools
- Are you ready? AT&T encourages you to test your disaster preparedness level.
- Print the preparedness quiz.
Planning Tools
- Emergency Communications Planning Tips
- Emergency Tool Kit: Family communications planning materials
- Read more about the 2009 AT&T/NENA study
Helpful Information in an Emergency
- Using 9-1-1 on Your AT&T Mobility Phone
- AT&T Residential Service Contact Numbers
- AT&T Security and Business Continuity
- Texting How-to Guide
AT&T Disaster Response
We're ready for anything and can help keep you connected after disaster strikes. Here are some of the ways AT&T has helped those affected by emergencies:
In response to 2010 flooding in Nashville, Middle- and West-Tennessee, AT&T supplied designated relief shelters with cell phones with unlimited voice and data airtime. In addition, we made a $25,000 corporate donation tot he Red Cross to assist the flood victims. Learn more.
After the horrific earthquake in Haiti in early 2010, we coordinated the donation of 10,000 wireless phones to victims, provided a $50,000 donation to Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), and temporarily waived wireless usage charges for customers in Haiti. Learn more.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike’s landfall along the upper Texas coast in 2008, AT&T deployed 2,000 technicians, 2,800 generators, and portable cell towers to affected areas. Evacuees were supported with free Wi-Fi access, free voice, data and entertainment services. We invested $145 million and 2 million employee hours in recovery and restoration efforts. Learn more.
Immediately following the 2007 tornadoes in Greensburg KS, we provided a portable bank of public phones with free local and long distance calling and arranged for Kansas residential customers with storm-damaged homes to receive free call management services. Learn more.
We mobilized support services for more than 12,000 evacuees in San Diego after the 2007 wildfires, including free wireless calls, television and Wi-Fi internet access. The AT&T foundation also donated $150,000 to the American Red Cross to help with relief efforts. Learn more.
When Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, AT&T, its foundation and employees donated more than $7 million in financial contributions, in-kind services and equipment. We installed 1,500 telephone lines and 300 DSL lines near evacuee shelters, and donated 35,000 prepaid phone cards to hurricane victims. Learn more.
Business Continuity
Our Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) program is designed to restore vital telecommunications services for our business and government customers following a disaster.
Since 1992, the NDR team has been activated more than a dozen times in response to disasters, including restoring service after tornadoes in Oklahoma in 1999; the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001; wildfires in San Diego in 2003 and 2007; Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005; and Hurricanes Gustav, Dolly, and Ike in 2008.
Helping your business maintain and recover communications
- View an overview of AT&T's NDR program, team and equipment and information about recent deployments and exercises.
- Download AT&T’s Business Continuity Preparedness Handbook
- Learn how to implement a holistic Business Continuity and Recovery strategy with AT&T’s Business Continuity Planning Checklist.
AT&T 2010 Business Continuity Study
According to our 2010 study, more businesses are responding to the need for continuity planning — 83% of organizations reported having a business continuity plan in place, with a 14% increase over the last five years. Learn More
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Shop & Learn More
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If you are experiencing problems with your Home Phone or DSL service, visit att.com/repair to report your trouble. If you are a U-verse customer, visit att.com/ufix - MEdia Net for weather and traffic updates
- Relay services
Images
- View images of AT&T's disaster recovery efforts during hurricane season.
Videos
- Text 2HELP PSA
AT&T Texas President Don Cain urges customers to text GIVE to 2HELP from their cell phones to make a $5 donation to Red Cross Disaster Relief.






