The FCC has released a new report blaming Verizon and Frontier Communications for widespread and largely preventable service outages during a major storm that hit the mid-Atlantic region in June of 2012. After the storm knocked out power grids in parts of Virginia and West Virginia, key generators failed to start, leading to widespread phone service outages. As a result, thousands of 911 calls failed to connect.
The storm, which hit the Washington DC metro area and parts of West Virginia and Ohio, was a "derecho," characterized by strong, straight-line winds. Unlike hurricanes, derechos can crop up suddenly and therefore don't give service providers much time to prepare for them.
Still, the FCC says Verizon did have some warning that its network was not ready for prime time. Unfortunately, it failed to move quickly enough to address the problem. Verizon's records show that two days before the storm hit, a generator in the company's Arlington central office failed a routine reliability test. When the storm hit, the generator failed, leaving the office on battery power which only lasted for a few hours. As a result, the office was without power for about 8 hours on the morning of June 30.
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The storm, which hit the Washington DC metro area and parts of West Virginia and Ohio, was a "derecho," characterized by strong, straight-line winds. Unlike hurricanes, derechos can crop up suddenly and therefore don't give service providers much time to prepare for them.
Still, the FCC says Verizon did have some warning that its network was not ready for prime time. Unfortunately, it failed to move quickly enough to address the problem. Verizon's records show that two days before the storm hit, a generator in the company's Arlington central office failed a routine reliability test. When the storm hit, the generator failed, leaving the office on battery power which only lasted for a few hours. As a result, the office was without power for about 8 hours on the morning of June 30.
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