Cable service has been restored to about 10,000 customers in Maui since the wildfires left more than 25,000 subs without service starting August 9.
That is according to the Federal Communicatios Commission’s latest tally drawn from network outage data provided by communications providers using the its Disaster Information Report System-Lite (DIRSLite). That system collects more “situation-specific” data from communications providers.
The FCC said that at last report, 14,494 subscribers were without phone, TV, internet or a combination of those services.
No TV stations reported being out of service as of Aug. 18.
On the wireless internet front, cell service has made a big comeback on the devastated island, from hundreds of sites out of service for the first four days of the fires (August 9-12) to only 10% out as of August 18.
The FCC has granted various special temporary authorities to communications companies to aid in the service restoration. Those include granting T-Mobile use of the 6- and 11-GHz bands at four microwave backhaul sites and giving AT&T permission to use those frequencies for six such sites.
The Maui wildfires were reportedly among the deadliest in the nation in over a hundred years.
"We have been issuing daily public communications status reports that track the restoration progress, with 17 out of 21 cell sites now restored, the Maui 911 call center now functional and broadcasters continuing to operate and share important community updates and news," FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said Friday. "Also, over 10,000 cable and wireline subscribers have had service restored, but more work remains. We will continue to work closely with local, state, and federal partners as families and residents all over the island begin to rebuild and recover from these devastating wildfires.”
