Comcast has announced it is opening up free Wi-Fi access to everyone in Hurricane Sandy’s impact zone, whether Comcast customers or not.

A Comcast representative tells Broadband Reports the free Wi-Fi access is available in affected communities in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

• Non-XFINITY Internet customers should search for the “xfinitywifi” network name and click on the “Not a Comcast subscriber?” link at the bottom of the Sign In page.
• Then select the “Complimentary Trial Session” option from the drop down list.
• Users will be able to renew their complimentary sessions every 2 hours through Wednesday, Nov. 7.

For a map of XFINITY WiFi hotspots, which are located both indoors and outdoors in malls, shopping districts, parks, and train platforms, please visit XFINITY Wi-Fi.

(Complimentary XFINITY Wi-Fi service may not be available in Partner Wi-Fi Hotspot locations).

T-Mobile and AT&T customers in the impact zone of Hurricane Sandy will share cellular networks through a mutual aid pact announced today by both companies.

The temporary roaming agreement will allow customers of AT&T and T-Mobile to use cell sites providing the strongest reception and the highest call completion rate in areas of New York and New Jersey where cell service has degraded.

T-Mobile said the temporary arrangement will provide a seamless roaming experience because both companies share GSM technology. There will be no additional charges for this service. We have no information as to whether this agreement will also cover texting and data services.

Earlier today, T-Mobile provided this update to customers about restoration progress:

T-Mobile network engineers are working as quickly as possible to restore service to areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. In Washington, D.C. the network is more than 90% operational. In New York City, the network is more than 80% operational. Restoration work continues in the harder hit areas of lower Manhattan, Staten Island, Long Island, coastal and Northern New Jersey, Connecticut and portions of Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia.

T-Mobile rapid response engineering teams have staged equipment throughout the areas most severely impacted and continue to make assessments regarding how quickly we may be able to begin restoration, and where it is needed most.

This will cost you $10/month in Milwaukee

Stop the Cap! has learned Time Warner Cable is back with another equipment rate increase, this time for television set top boxes that will now cost $10 a month each, beginning in Wisconsin.

Time Warner Cable customers in the Milwaukee area are first getting the notice of the $1.05 rate increase on their latest bill. The new rate takes effect in November.

“Many businesses, including ours, are facing rising costs and have to adjust prices in order to maintain their operations,” explains Time Warner Cable Wisconsin spokeswoman Stacy Zaja. “We also understand that some of our customers are struggling in this economy, and are doing the best to hold the line on our prices.”

The rate increase comes at the same time Time Warner is introducing a $3.95 monthly modem rental fee for its broadband service. Unlike cable modems, however, Time Warner will not allow customers to purchase their own set top boxes, so it represents a rate increase customers can only avoid by canceling service or negotiating a lower rate.

At this time, Time Warner will not increase its prices for cable television service, just the equipment needed to view it.

The Business Journal notes Time Warner may be taking a chance on its latest rate increase, because AT&T’s U-verse service is increasingly available as an alternative choice for Milwaukee residents. Time Warner last raised the set top box rental fee by $1 in 2011, along with a $5 monthly rate hike for its cable television service.

The darker the color, the higher percentage of CP&L customers without electric service. Areas in gray are served by other electric utilities.

Although less hard-hit than New Jersey, Connecticut residents will wait almost as long as customers further south for restoration of electric service, with AT&T getting its own services back up and running only after electric utility repair crews finish work.

Customers across the state are experiencing power outages that range from a handful of homes to near-complete blackouts that utility companies predict will take at least a week to repair. For a second day, AT&T continued to leave its customers in the dark, with nothing more than a general statement it continued to “assess the damage” to its wired and wireless networks that “have issues” across Connecticut.

In fact, AT&T’s most visible effort for Connecticut customers waiting for service is a website promotion asking for $10 donations for the American Red Cross, conveniently billed to your AT&T account.

“Why did I expect anything more from AT&T when they never seem to be terribly interested in customer service generally,” complains Stop the Cap! reader Bethany Johnson, also a U-verse customer e-mailing us from a friend’s phone on Verizon Wireless. “AT&T customer service won’t say anything to us and you can’t find a thing on their website with the same old statements on the news.”

Johnson says Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) restored her electric service early this morning, but U-verse is out and her AT&T cell phone no longer has any signal from her home.

“When you call AT&T, one of their call centers answers and they just read out some statement that tells you nothing,” she says. “Verizon Wireless and Cablevision are falling all over each other trying to give us updates, but AT&T can’t be bothered.”

Johnson says her friends with Verizon Wireless seem to have weathered Hurricane Sandy better than she did, with much more sporadic AT&T cell service afflicting customers across Connecticut.

“My husband drives for a living and he says AT&T’s cell network as of today along the roads he travels really took a beating and he often can’t get in touch with me,” Johnson said. “AT&T says they have ‘issues’ in Connecticut and I am getting to the point where I am having an issue with them. Just tell us what is going on, we can take it.”

United Illuminating is reporting 137,983 customers without power; more than 43 percent of its service area. Nearly all of UI’s customers in the Southport section of Fairfield have no electric service, followed by Weston at 90 percent, Trumbull with nearly 85 percent, Monroe at nearly 82 percent and Bridgeport at 71 percent.

CL&P is reporting 351,910 or about 28 percent of its customers without power. In southwestern Connecticut, more than half of CL&P’s customers are in the dark in Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Westport, Wilton, Weston, Newtown, Monroe and Danbury.

Extensive flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy swamped the ground floor of Verizon’s headquarters at 140 West St. in lower Manhattan.

Verizon Communications, the largest telecommunications company in the northeast, has been trying to assess the widespread damage to its wireline, fiber, and wireless networks but remains hampered by major damage to its own operations centers and leftover flooding in coastal areas.

Verizon’s headquarters in lower Manhattan on West Street had several feet of water on the ground floor Monday night. At noon today, Verizon called conditions below 39th Street in lower Manhattan “bleak” because of flooding. Verizon’s network technical facilities received extensive damage in the area, and some facilities had water high enough in basements to damage backup power equipment. The company spent the last day just pumping flood water out of their facilities in the area and is now bringing in new generators to power buildings and restore service.

The venerable landline, now considered a relic by a growing number of Americans, may prove to be the hardy survivor of Hurricane Sandy, holding up well in areas upstate and in parts of New York City where spotty cell service has left residents doing the unthinkable – lining up in front of working pay phones.

With cell phone batteries all but dead and power restoration likely to take days if not weeks, Verizon’s self-powered landlines that survived the storm are holding up, even if customers’ memories are not.

“The good news is the payphones that are still left are working, the bad news is who can remember anyone’s phone number anymore?” says Stop the Cap! reader Richard, who has been without power since Monday night. “Cell phone contact lists don’t help much until you can recharge your phone.”

Several New Yorkers are joining Richard looking for community centers and public libraries with working electrical outlets to recharge cell phones while catching up with e-mail on computer terminals that still have Internet access. Some boroughs remain virtually cut off from the rest of New York with roads, tunnels, bridges and public transport only gradually reopening on a limited basis.

Verizon called conditions south of the Garment District in lower Manhattan “bleak.”

Verizon’s Satellite Solutions Group is sending several emergency mobile communications vehicles to New Jersey and New York this evening to provide communications services to the impacted region. The disaster recovery fleet is completely self-contained and does not require any commercial power to operate. The mobile vehicles offer voice, data and Internet connectivity as well as charging capabilities for mobile devices.

“Sandy has left a trail of destruction throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with historic flooding in New York and New Jersey and a hurricane-fueled snowstorm in southwest Virginia and western Maryland,” said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon’s consumer and mass business division.  “We are asking the public to remain focused on staying safe as there may be dangerous conditions such as fallen trees or power lines.  Our dedicated employees – from technicians to customer service consultants – run to a crisis and will continue to do what it takes to put customers back in touch.”

For that to happen, Verizon is waiting for electric utilities to get service back up and running. The company suspects most of its problems are related to electric service interruptions that will resolve once power is restored. But in lower Manhattan and along the coastline, more significant damage is likely to take longer to repair.

Verizon facilities in lower Manhattan, Queens and Long Island have received major damage from severe flooding, interrupting commercial power and rendering backup power systems inoperable.  In some cases, Verizon teams have not been able to access the sites, due to flooding and safety concerns.

As battery backup and generated power fails, additional central offices could lose service until Verizon crews can reach those facilities. Where flood waters have wreaked havoc with Verizon’s equipment, it could take a week or more to restore service. In such cases, it’s crucial to consider hiring a water damage restoration service to expedite the recovery process. For detailed information on water damage restoration, please see page.

Verizon Wireless service is reportedly in better shape, with 94% of cell sites still working, according to the company.

But with heavy call volumes and interruptions to Verizon’s backhaul connections which connect cell towers to Verizon’s network, having good reception is no guarantee customers will be able to complete calls or receive them.

Many New Yorkers report outgoing calls go nowhere and incoming calls go straight to voicemail, even with phones powered on.

Other Verizon notifications affecting customers across the northeast:

“All circuits are busy” or “Your call cannot be completed at this time”

Some Verizon customers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region of the U.S. may receive a message of “All circuits are busy” or “Your call cannot be completed at this time” when trying to make a call. This is due to an unusually large volume of calls in the network as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Our engineers are working to accommodate this additional call volume. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Shipment Delays

As storm related transportation disruptions clear, Verizon customers will begin to receive shipments of routers, set top boxes and cabling. However, there may continue to be delays in completing deliveries due to road conditions. We will continue to process orders and ship equipment to our customers as quickly as possible.

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