FCC, Congress Urge Wireless Industry to Keep Service On For Hurricane Victims
The FCC and members of Congress urged the wireless industry to maintain service to Hurricane Katrina victims who can’t pay their bills. The FCC gave wireless service licensees with hurricane-affected customers until today (Sept. 8) to submit a report verifying “compliance with the standard industry practice of maintaining service to people displaced by Hurricane Katrina despite failure to pay bills.” Reports should describe the grace period or other relief licensees are providing, the agency said.
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“Hurricane Katrina displaced hundreds of thousands of residents of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and many thousands of these customers rely on their wireless service during this difficult time to remain in touch with loved ones,” the FCC said Wed. It said affected residents can’t pay their bills for many reasons. For example, it said, the U.S. Post Office isn’t operating throughout the affected areas, commercial power isn’t available everywhere and communications networks, including Internet for online bill payment, aren’t at prehurricane capabilities.
The FCC request came as a group of Congressmen urged CTIA Pres. Steve Largent to “encourage all CTIA’s member companies… to implement an extended grace period for disaster area wireless customers.” The congressmen voiced concern over reports of wireless customers from affected areas being disconnected for not paying their bills. “Many of these people are now being housed in Houston, Texas at the Reliant Center, Astrodome and George R. Brown Convention Center, where we are doing all we can to assist the evacuee effort,” said a letter by Reps. Green (D- Tex.), Delay (R-Tex.), Culberson (R-Tex.) and other Texas delegation members, as well as Houston Mayor Bill White (D). “For many of these people, their wireless phone is their lifeline and is important to effective relief for displaced citizens,” the letter said.
Answering the FCC and Congress, Largent said in a statement he “personally spoke to top executives of each of the major wireless carriers and they have pledged that no subscriber’s service in the region will be disconnected during this catastrophe for not paying their bills.” In a Wed. letter to FCC Chmn. Martin, Verizon Wireless CEO Dennis Strigl pledged that “no customer’s number will be disconnected for non-payment.” Strigl said his company also: (1) Stopped all past-due notices. (2) Notified collection agencies not to contact any of those customers. (3) Issued an air time credit for prepaid customers and extended the expiration deadlines of the cards. (4) Suspended automatic payments from customers’ bank accounts to leave that money available for other needs. Verizon Wireless has distributed up to 20,000 long distance calling cards and thousands of wireless phones to emergency workers and victims, Strigl said. The company has restored service to nearly 300 of about 400 cell sites knocked out by the hurricane.
“We are not disconnecting service to those customers in the impacted areas,” a Cingular spokeswoman said: “We have suspended all collections activity in those areas and will work with our customers on a case-be-case basis to make payment arrangements.”
At least 7 wireless carriers are participating in the Text 2HELP campaign that enables wireless customers to donate funds, according to CTIA. The program will run through Oct. 31, underwriting American Red Cross hurricane relief. CTIA’s Largent leads the Wireless Foundation, which coordinates the program. The participating carriers are Alltel, Boost Mobile, Cingular, Cricket Communications, Dobson Communications, Sprint and Verizon Wireless.
Small WISPs Help Hurricane Victims
Stepping to the plate, hundreds of small wireless ISPs are helping Gulf Coast residents caught in Hurricane Katrina. The Part 15 Organization (Part-15.org) -- one of the biggest WISP groups -- met Fri. with FCC officials via teleconference to discuss how to utilize WISPs better, and got the necessary clearances Tues. night.
“What held it up so long is a lot of organizations that you need to coordinate with,” said Media Access Project Senior Vp Harold Feld. The FCC has designated Part-15.org as a single point of contact, responsible for gathering information the Commission needs to coordinate WISP efforts with the Red Cross, FEMA and others, he said. The Wireless ISP Assn. is working with Part-15.org on the issue.
Part-15.org will coordinate a WISP effort to get some 25,000 evacuees in San Antonio Internet and VoIP service, Feld said. “We submitted a proposal for Kelly Air Force Base relief center in San Antonio, where the Red Cross has set up a shelter,” said Part-15.org Chmn. Michael Anderson: “Once Kelly’s up and running, the project may serve as a model for the Red Cross relief efforts nationwide. We are also supporting under-the-radar shelters to make sure victims have access to other federal authorities to help them get the real assistance.”