Cellular carriers recover from Frances

Sep 07 2004 - 03:15 AM ET | In The News
Hurricane Frances left millions of Floridians without power and thousands without homes, but cellular carriers tried hard to make sure cell phone service was not on the list of losses. Verizon Wireless sent in dozens of COWs (cells on wheels) and COLTs (cells on light trucks) to help beef up their network, of which about 15% went down during the storm. Cingular Wireless lost touch with about 15% of its network as well, and also sent in dozens of COWs/COLTs. MobileTracker noticed no cellular downtime in the Tampa market, despite high winds and power outages.