AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon are working to restore mobile services across parts of Florida that have been hit by Hurricane Milton.

The category 4 hurricane, which hit on Wednesday evening (October 9), has led to network outages across several areas of the state.

1024px-Intersection_flooded_by_Milton
– Wikimedia/Quxyz

The timing of the hurricane comes less than a fortnight after Hurricane Helene hit large parts of Southeastern America, including Florida.

Since Milton made landfall, more than 2.5 million homes across the state are without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

So far, 16 people have been confirmed dead, while several counties have experienced flooding.

According to Cloudflare, data shows that more than 70 cities in Florida suffered dips in Internet traffic greater than 50 percent compared to the previous week. "These cities with significant traffic drops are close to the path of the hurricane," Cloudflare noted on X.

Carriers working to restore outages

The country's three main carriers have reported disruption to their respective networks.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revealed yesterday in its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) report that 12.3 percent of cell sites reported as being out of service in the areas of Florida impacted by Hurricane Milton.

It added that cable and wireline companies reported more than 1.27 million subscribers out of service in the disaster area.

Verizon noted that many of its cell sites are running on backup power, stating that "massive refueling operations are underway to ensure those sites without commercial power remain in service for Verizon customers and first responders."

The telco added that many fiber cables have been damaged and that it's working to restore connectivity to cell sites as soon as possible.

"We have begun the process of deploying several alternate connections and moving temporary satellite network assets from the safety of our staging areas into the areas of impact," said Verizon in its latest update yesterday evening.

Verizon said that areas of St. Lucie County, Charlotte County, Pinellas County, Eastern Manatee County, Pine Island, Venice, and Sarasota have "seen improvements" in network coverage since the outage hit. However, the telco added that a third-party fiber provider suffered significant damage to the fiber backhaul serving Polk County.

AT&T also noted network issues. In its update last night, the carrier said it placed generators at critical cell sites and moved network equipment above anticipated flood levels before the storm hit Florida.

"Where is it safe to do so, we are quickly and safely working to gain access, assess the damage, and restore service," said AT&T.

T-Mobile stated that cell sites are down across several areas including Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, and Orlando, among others.

"We are focused on recovery as quickly as possible. Our crews will be out assessing sites and beginning necessary repairs where they are able to do so. As they will be navigating conditions that are incredibly difficult — downed power lines and trees, flooding, and other hazards — they will be proceeding with safety as the priority," said T-Mobile last night.

In response to the hurricane, T-Mobile said it has around 400 fixed generators running across impacted areas and that it will deploy portable generators when possible.

The telco also said it's preparing to roll out COWs (Cells on Wheels) and COLTs (Cells on Light Trucks).

All three carriers have said they will waive domestic call, text, and data usage in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane.

From October 9 to October 23, Verizon said it will waive domestic call, text, and data usage for postpaid consumer and Verizon Small Business customers in impacted Florida counties.

Meanwhile, AT&T said it's waiving costs for residential and business wireline orders placed now through November 8, 2024. T-Mobile has said it will offer unlimited talk, text, and data for its customers who don't have access to an unlimited plan.

Prior to the hurricane hitting this week, the FCC also approved emergency special temporary authority to SpaceX to provide Starlink coverage in Florida. The regulator had previously allowed SpaceX to do similar in North Carolina, amid the impact of Hurricane Helene.

Elsewhere, data center company Flexential revealed on LinkedIn that its data centers in Tampa, Jacksonville, and Fort Lauderdale have remained fully operational without disruption.

This is a developing story. DCD will update as more information becomes available.