Hello? Hello? -- Preparing the Nation's Phone Service for the Next Hurricane Season
In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, as thousands of people struggled to put their lives back together, stories began to surface from Louisiana, Mississippi, and throughout the Southeast that telecom juggernaut BellSouth had used the disaster to take advantage of individuals in need and eliminate their competition. As companies like Momentum Telecom attempted to help restore communication to the areas that had been hit the worst, BellSouth exploited the disaster to its advantage. Jackson Free Press covered the story:
“Hurricane Katrina took down power lines across the Southeast and left hundreds of customers without phone service for weeks. Some customers also say that the telephone company Bellsouth has taken advantage of the disaster to further dominate the phone lines in southern Mississippi and Louisiana, costing customers valuable time and money.”
The coverage takes on a more personal tone when it focuses on the story of Louisiana resident and former Momentum customer Frank O’Toole who, it is suggested, was forced “to switch his local service in order to get phone service turned back on promptly.” Mr. O’Toole is quoted as saying:
“‘The only way I got phone service back again was by switching to Bellsouth. I just got tired of waiting. My wife had to go out and buy $600 worth of cell phones during all that time we were waiting, just so we could have phone service…My mother had hers, my brother had his. Everybody up on our hill had it. It was either Bellsouth or no phone.’”
The article goes on to quote an attorney representing Momentum as saying:
“…what’s happening is they’re lighting up their own customers, but they’re not turning on customers under different calling services. This is highly illegal.”
Here's how BusinessWeek reported (scroll down to view) the same story:
"In some instances, customers of Momentum and the rival carriers complain that BellSouth customers in their apartment complexes, or on their blocks, have had service restored but that they're still phoneless. If they call BellSouth to inquire about the timetable for repairs, the customers claim that BellSouth reps are telling them it will take a month or more to restore service -- but they can be up and running, sometimes the same day, if they switch their local phone service back to BellSouth."
As horrible as this might seem, it is not the only morally questionable action Bellsouth took at the time. The Washington Post ran a story back in December of 2005 suggesting that the company withdrew a significant donation it had promised to the city of New Orleans:
“Hours after New Orleans officials announced Tuesday that they would deploy a city-owned, wireless Internet network in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, regional phone giant BellSouth Corp. withdrew an offer to donate one of its damaged buildings that would have housed new police headquarters, city officials said yesterday.”
Why did BellSouth go back on their offer? Well, according to the Post:
“City officials said BellSouth was upset about the plan to bring high-speed Internet access for free to homes and businesses to help stimulate resettlement and relocation to the devastated city.”
Is there any way to stop a corporation that wields it power in such a way?
Well, Jeff Pulver and Tom Evslin are doing their best to affect a change. They have created a petition that has garnered response from the FCC. Both of these luminaries recently discussed the petition on their respective blogs. Evslin also provided back story by discussing many of the communication problems that many people faced on the ground:
“People who had voice mail were quickly back in touch even if their physical phone lines were drowned or unreachable because of evacuation orders. Even if they couldn’t take calls, they could leave announcements saying they were safe and where to locate them. Phone numbers are a very good way to locate people. Names, it turns out, are not.”
This excerpt from Pulver focuses on the goals of the petition and how their suggested policy might help the nation avoid similar problems in the future:
“Our Petition is pretty straightforward, and it is not intended to extol the virtues/superiority of IP-based communications. We primarily ask for a mechanism to ensure that individuals (particularly those who might not be able to afford mobile communications devices) are reachable after a public crisis that causes communications networks to go down. We propose a solution that we think could provide immediate relief before the next hurricane season and before more elaborate rules might feasibly be established.”
The BellSouth train will most likely continue to roll on. However, there are steps that people can take simply to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated. Check out the petition and if you agree with the policy, let the FCC know. Comments will be accepted till April 27, 2006.
Evslin suggests, "to comment, just go to http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi. The “proceeding ID” to be entered in the first line is 113227. You just need to enter several sentences....to give reasons for your position." Correction--This is the correct code: RM-11327. See Evslin's latest post for more info.
Do it now while there's still time to prepare before the 2006 hurricane season.