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Cell phone service was shut down or severely taxed, especially around Fort Myers and Orlando, in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley.
While cell towers appeared to have sustained little storm damage, many backup batteries ran out before electricity could be restored, carriers reported.
Efforts to quickly set up portable generators for temporary power were occasionally hampered by inaccessible roads, said David Green, vice president of southeastern network operations for Alltel Communications in Charlotte, N.C.
While some cell towers are equipped with permanent backup generators, outfitting all towers in this way would be prohibitively expensive, Green said.
Most emergency personnel could still rely on two-way radios for urgent communications, but some reported being troubled by the loss of cell phone service.
"It's absolutely a hindrance," said Cape Coral fire Capt. Rick Tassoni, noting that the department's cell phones, equipped with a frequently used walkie-talkie function, weren't working Saturday.
Allen Moore, a spokesman for the Orange County Office of Emergency Management, said personnel there had "virtually zero service on some carriers" after the storm. He added that service improved significantly Saturday.
Traditional phone companies weren't immune to outages, but they proved far more reliable than wireless services. BellSouth Corp., which serves about 850,000 customers in greater Orlando, Daytona Beach and Brevard County, received 4,326 service outage reports after Charley's passage.
Spokeswoman Marta Casas-Celaya said the company has had to sift through some complaints from customers who still have phone service but don't realize it because they only have cordless phones - which won't work when the power is off.