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High on the to-do list for Verizon Wireless before next hurricane season is to improve communications with emergency operation officials around the state. And, oh yeah, get some new cell phones for its hurricane supplies.
The company gave out about 2,000 phones to emergency workers, the National Guard and law enforcement after the string of storms ripped across Florida.
"We found out pretty quickly that they were eating up our network capacity," said Chuck Hamby, a company spokesman.
The problem: The phones were several years old, not the current digital models that use less capacity to operate. Because the network was already strained by the emergencies, Verizon technicians said the additional burden was noticeable.
On another issue, Verizon Wireless was much happier with its performance. It gave between 1-million and 2-million free minutes to storm victims at their Wireless Emergency Communication Centers, says Hamby, so they could call family, insurance companies or others.