May 3, 2004
Palm Beach Post

AT&T Practices Restoring Service After Storms 

AT&T Corp. will practice ripping up and restoring its South Florida network to make sure it can restore its communications systems quickly in case a hurricane destroys them for real.

The drill is part of the company's $300 million network disaster recovery program. To help with the drill, Bedminster, N.J.-based AT&T has sent a fleet of tractor-trailers to its South Florida area central office in Pompano Beach , where the staff is running a six-day exercise that ends Tuesday.

"The drill is a pivotal component of AT&T's business continuity and disaster recovery program," said John Kern, program director.

Nearly 90 percent of businesses whose networks are destroyed will fail within two to five years if they don't have a disaster recovery plan, but few companies have adopted any sort of plan of action, according to Digital Research Inc., based in Kennebunk , Maine .

Atlanta-based Cingular Wireless has been testing its cell site and network switching operations in Margate as well as other places to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season. The wireless company has a "cellular on wheels," which is a portable cellular site to provide wireless service to areas that lose it in a storm.