Wireless carrier Cellular South also assists emergency responders with communication plans
JACKSON, Miss. - (July 7, 2005) – Cellular South's Emergency Task Force advises wireless customers to prepare for Hurricane Dennis by charging their phone batteries and securing additional batteries and vehicle chargers in a dry, accessible place.
Many wireless customers were completely dependent on their wireless phones during Hurricane Ivan and its aftermath in 2004 as a result of widespread power outages and loss of home phone service. In addition, some Coastal residents who were displaced from their homes for days or even weeks were able to maintain contact wirelessly with family, friends, disaster personnel, insurance agents and others, many of whom also were relying on their wireless phones to conduct personal or business calls.
"Wireless phones are a vital means of communicating during emergencies," said Richard Reynolds, Cellular South's area manager for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. "Families who are evacuating have the reassurance of knowing their wireless phones go wherever they go, and of course, that same mobility is crucial to the work of emergency management and relief personnel."
As part of its own disaster preparations, Cellular South's Emergency Task Force has contacted emergency management and disaster relief agencies in coastal counties and municipalities to assess their potential communication needs. The company will donate wireless phones and unlimited, priority phone service to emergency responders for immediate use during Hurricane Dennis and afterward for any significantly damaged areas. Emergency responders receive priority wireless service on an emergency voice channel.
Cellular South's disaster response plan includes back-up generators for all of the company's network towers, with the goal of maintaining continuous wireless service during storm-related power outages. In addition, Cellular South provides COWS (Cell Sites on Wheels) and COLTS (Cells on Light Trucks) to accommodate increased call volume and help ensure that customer can place and complete calls in a disaster situation. The company's Network Operation Control Center oversees year-round 24-hour monitoring of wireless networks, with Emergency Task Force technicians deployed to provide additional support and repairs as needed in stricken areas.
As it did following Hurricane Ivan, Cellular South will provide free phone usage to residents or evacuees without access to a wireless or home phone, through kiosks likely to be installed at emergency evacuation centers or other central locations in disaster areas.
About Cellular South
The company is the largest privately held wireless provider in the U.S. and is licensed to provide wireless service - to a total population of more than five million people - on its network stretching from the Memphis Metropolitan Area, throughout all of Mississippi, along Coastal Alabama and the Florida Panhandle through Destin/Seaside. For more information, contact Cellular South at 1-877-CSOUTH1 or visit cellularsouth.com.
Contact:
Tanya Rankin, Cellular South (601) 974-7134 trankin@cellularsouth.com
