cellphone

FCC to hold hearings about post-Sandy cell coverage

Suzanne Choney NBC News

Nov. 21, 2012 at 4:01 PM ET

NBC News

New Yorkers charged their cellphones outside of Setai 5th Ave. in New York, N.Y. on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Hurricane Sandy knocked out power for much of lower Manhattan, forcing people to find alternative ways to keep their devices charged.

The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday it will hold hearings at the start of 2013 to learn whether the nation's wireless networks could have, or should have, performed better in the wake of superstorm Sandy.

At the height of the devastating storm, about 25 percent of cell towers were knocked out in states affected by Sandy. 

Wireless carriers worked diligently to get service restored to mobile customers, but were hampered by water damage, physical damage to cell towers and power loss. 

Because of the massive damage caused by Sandy, it took more than a week for service to be up and running close to 100 percent.

"This unprecedented storm has revealed new challenges that will require a national dialogue around ideas and actions to ensure the resilience of communications,"  FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said Wednesday in a statement.

Among the FCC's questions for the hearings, which will be held first in New York:

• "To what extent did service providers notify consumers of their communications options in advance of the storm?"
• "How can service providers best work together by sharing resources, such as cell sites, Wi-Fi networks and transmission facilities?" (AT&T and T-Mobile put into place an agreement to let customers in the region use roaming on each other's network post-Sandy.)
• "In what ways can these arrangements be made in advance so that they are in place when disaster strikes?"
• "When commercial power is unavailable, how long should back-up power sources be expected to last?"
• "What kinds of solutions are made available to customers to help them charge devices like cellphones?" (Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile all provided mobile charging stations as soon as they could get to hard-hit storm areas.) 
• "What obstacles are there to connect to and receive emergency help and what technologies and actions might help? Are there unique obstacles for the elderly or people with disabilities that affect their use and access to communications regarding emergency services?"
• "Why would services, once restored, perform at levels inferior to those customarily enjoyed by users? How long can these performance degradations be expected to last?"

Representatives from AT&T and Sprint declined comment on the FCC action. NBC News also contacted Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, and will update this post if we hear back. 

CTIA is the trade group that represents wireless carriers. In a statement to NBC News, Chris Guttman-McCabe, CTIA vice president, regulatory affairs, said the group looks "forward to discussing the wireless industry’s proven commitment and dedication to providing critically important communications during times of natural disasters, particularly in light of a storm of such epic proportion as super storm Sandy."

The hearings also will focus on communications by state and local officials and emergency personnel, the FCC said.

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