Irene takes out some East Coast cellphone service

NEW YORK (AP) ? Federal regulators say wireless networks are out in some coastal areas of North Carolina and southern Virginia, but calls are going through in most areas affected by Hurricane Irene.

In Lenoir, Greene and Carteret counties of North Carolina, 50 percent to 90 percent of cell towers are offline, says Rear Adm. Jamie Barnett, head of the public safety bureau of the Federal Communications Commission.

Power outages appear to be the main cause of the tower failures, and more towers could go silent as their backup batteries or generators run dry, Barnett says.

Landline phone service has failed for about 125,000 households on the coast, the FCC says, and 250,000 have lost cable service.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-08-28-Irene-Phone%20Service/id-5c985f33f9f44209b9c8201e9758a92a

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