Verizon repairs badly damaged network and morale

From...

By Denise Pappalardo

(IDG) -- Verizon's Vice Chairman Larry Babbio addressed the media Wednesday in a press conference where he described Verizon's severe network damage and concerns over the company's personnel.

While Verizon was able to account for the majority of its employees that worked in the Twin Towers, some are still missing.

"We had almost 500 employees at the World Trade Center. There are one or two folks that are still missing. We don't know, but we're hoping for the best," Babbio says.

"We know of a number of employees from Genuity who called from cell phones. They were on their way to the roof - because there was no other way to go," Babbio explained as he tried to hold back tears. These Genuity technicians were above the point where the first plane hit. "They are presumed dead."

Verizon was once the parent of ISP Genuity and now owns 9.5% of the company.

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With heavy hearts, Verizon is trying to move ahead toward fixing its severely damaged West Street central office switch location, which stood adjacent to the Twin Towers Building 7 that collapsed.

Nearly all of Wall Street is completely dependent on this facility, and normal trading cannot resume without it (see: "Stock exchanges depend on Verizon for trading to resume," link below).

This site connects 200,000 voice lines and three million specialized private data lines. It is believed to be one of the largest telecom collocation facilities, according to a Verizon spokesman.

Babbio described the scene at the switch facility. "I just came back from the office and it's probably one of the few buildings that's still standing, but it's badly damaged," he said. "When [Building 7] collapsed, steel from that building came through our building."

"There are five lower levels," he continued. "We managed to get to Level A. Water was pouring through the basement. When cables get wet, service gets interrupted."

There is no electricity at the facility, and Verizon plans to bring in generators. That will be their first attempt to get the office back on line. "This could be a very long process," Babbio says. "The building is filled with smoke and dust. It's difficult to breathe and to see."

Because there is no electricity and water is in the building, Verizon is not sure of the integrity of the cables that are in the basement. What Verizon and all network providers do is essentially pump air into the cables to create a pressurized zone that keeps moisture out. Because electricity was down, there was no air pumped into these cables. They could be full of water, which will cause service interruptions even if the switches are working.

"We have to be careful how we do this," he says. "In layman terms - if you cover your computer at home with dirt and dip it in water and then try to turn it on, it's not going to work very long. We are trying the best we can to provide continuous services."

Verizon also lost voice switches in both of the towers, according to a company spokesman. These switches supported more than 40,000 telephone lines, but those lines are for phones that are no longer in place.

Verizon's Pentagon location continues to operate as close to normal as possible, Babbio says. "There have been some service interruptions as part of the building is very damaged." Verizon's switching equipment is working, but Babbio says it is damaged.

Verizon Wireless lost 10 cell sites when the World Trade Center went down. Verizon has deployed seven replacement sites throughout New York and New Jersey. Verizon Wireless has also added two replacement cell sites in Washington, D.C. and one outside of Pittsburgh.