Nov. 9, 2009 (Business Wire) -- Sprint (NYSE: S) today said it is preparing for the potential impact of Tropical Storm Ida threatening to make landfall along the Gulf Coast areas of Alabama, Florida and Louisiana on Tuesday morning. As it does for every impending tropical storm or hurricane, Sprint is staging backup generators and personnel in strategic locations along the Gulf Coast to manage potential service impacts.

In 2008, Sprint invested more than $340 million in network enhancements for storm-prone states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. This investment included adding new cell sites to the Nationwide Sprint^® Network and Nextel^® National Network, installing hundreds of permanent generators for critical wireless sites and network facilities as well as investment in additional portable generators.

Additionally, between 2005 and 2007, Sprint installed more than 250 hydrogen fuel cells on its networks, primarily in hurricane-prone cities along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. These fuel cells provide a much cleaner alternative to diesel-powered backup generators and are activated when service from the local electric utility is disrupted during severe weather or other natural disasters – providing up to 15 hours of backup power.

As a standard practice, Sprint has permanent generators at all of its wireless and wireline switches, the network components where data and calls are routed to their final destination. In addition, permanent generators are installed at all of the company’s network Points of Presence (POP), the facilities where traffic enters and leaves the company’s global IP network, which facilitates dedicated data services for Sprint’s corporate and government customers as well as other critical communications. These backup generators have automatic cutover switches to immediately neutralize any loss of commercial power.

Sprint also has a strong track record of providing critical communications and personnel to assist first responders with relief efforts. Sprint’s network and business continuity personnel, and the Sprint Emergency Response Team (ERT) are staging additional Cell Sites on Wheels (COWs) and Satellite Cell on Light Trucks (SatCOLTS) for possible deployment.

COWs are mobile cell sites that can be deployed in impacted areas to restore service quickly. This equipment provides backup to the networks in the event of power outages or other damage that could result after a hurricane. Satellite Cell on Light Trucks (SatCOLTS), the design of which is proprietary to Sprint, are managed by the Sprint ERT and help facilitate communications among disaster relief and emergency response agencies.