This is what keeps T-Mobile’s emergency response teams up at night

It seemed very appropriate that my area of ​​the Pacific Northwest would experience heavy rain and Record floods While I was finishing work on my article about T-Mobile Disaster Response Programs. I was reminded, as I looked at the gray sky outside my window, that natural disasters come in all sizes and intensities, often without warning.

During my visit to T-Mobile headquarters in November, where I took an in-depth tour of how the company’s emergency management teams restore network functions during natural disasters, I asked everyone: “What keeps you up at night?”

“How many hours do you have?” said John Cao, T-Mobile’s CTO and CTO.

The resilience of the network is what keeps him awake.

When disaster strikes, T-Mobile’s emergency response teams mobilize from staging areas across the United States to restore the company’s cellular network. This could include rolling out SatCOLTs (satellite cell on light trucks) or drones that create temporary 5G network coverage when cell towers are damaged, as well as providing generators when power goes out. They also help communities, in coordination with local and federal first responders, by distributing emergency supplies and portable chargers to people in need.

“Let’s make sure our network never goes down, because we’ll be letting someone down if we do,” Su said. When it comes to disaster response, Su said the team puts its boots on the ground to make sure affected communities have access to the best technology available.

What worries other recovery professionals? For many, this is how climate change is fueled by the frequency and scale of major weather events.

“The way the climate is changing has made different types of disasters more likely to spread to new locations,” said Stacy Tindell, senior director of T-Mobile Network Engineering and Operations. “We have wildfires like we’ve never seen before. We have hurricanes later in the season.”

Not only does this require more resources, it also places greater demands on the professionals tasked with reconnecting neighborhoods and communities.

“Disaster response, it’s an adrenaline-filled situation, isn’t it? It’s go, go, go. It’s short bursts,” Tindell continued. “In general, the more it gets every day, the harder it gets to really maintain and sustain it, for the network (and) for the people.”

What you don’t have to worry about is the team’s ability to handle the load. “Reacting and responding is what we do best,” she said.

Emergency response is as much about preparing for “blue sky” days — when there is not yet an active disaster — as it is about responding during “gray sky” days, when resources and personnel are working on the ground to restore cellular communications.

Over the past decade, the company’s emergency response capabilities have grown significantly, said John Fryer, T-Mobile’s chief operating officer. In 2015, Freer traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to help T-Mobile employees affected by the accident. Devastating floods. “I saw a couple of our competitors that had a very big presence, and I also saw us with a couple of big-hearted people who didn’t have a lot of support so I could help,” he said.

From there, T-Mobile’s resources expanded significantly in the United States. The company will not publicly share how many assets, such as cell trucks and generators, it has at its disposal, or how many warehouses it uses to organize its resources. However, T-Mobile, which has 140 million customers, has invested tens of millions of dollars in equipment and infrastructure to get where it is now, Freer said.

Although some emergency response deployments are planned, such as during major sporting events such as the recent ones Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand PrixThe team is often tasked with responding as quickly as possible to unexpected incidents.

“It’s about the frequency and severity of disasters that occur,” said Nicole Hodnut, national leader of T-Mobile’s emergency response team. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s when. (I want to) make sure we’re always prepared.”

I asked him if Hudnet feels increased pressure now that people are more reliant on their cell phones, as they are one of the only ways to contact others during emergencies. “I don’t see it as pressure, but it’s more of a commitment that we have to our communities,” Hodnett said. “If there is a flood, a small flood is just as important as a large flood for those communities.”