After Hurricane Harvey devastated the Gulf Coast of Texas a couple weeks ago, Dallas-based AT&T Inc. deployed a fleet of 46 drones to inspect the portions of South Texas affected by the storm.
The company is in the process of deploying drones in Florida to assess the damage done by Hurricane Irma that is still lashing parts of the state and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
“This offers high-quality visuals of equipment, components, and cabling so our engineers can remotely view cell sites safely from the ground — all in real time.”
AT&T
In the case of Harvey, AT&T wanted to check out the condition of all the towers, determine the impact on the network, and ensure that its customers would be able to speak with loved ones and begin the process of putting their lives back in order.
“Drones can take HD video and photos of a cell site, giving us a birds’ eye view of the tower. This offers high-quality visuals of equipment, components, and cabling so our engineers can remotely view cell sites safely from the ground – all in real time,” according to an AT&T release.
AT&T said it had an additional 58 drones on standby in case they were needed.
Companies such as AT&T use the drones during natural disasters to inspect areas that aren’t accessible by cars or trucks because of flooding. Using drones allows for the evaluation of these hard-hit areas to occur more quickly than otherwise would be possible.
AT&T also said its customers who live in the impacted areas of South Texas would receive credits for extra data, voice, and text charges.
The telecom giant said that it is doing the same thing for those impacted by Hurricane Irma.
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