FCC Extends Lifeline for Milton Victims; Recovery Efforts in Florida Continue

The full FCC has unanimously approved a temporary waiver of some Lifeline program eligibility rules to allow those receiving federal disaster assistance related to Hurricane Milton to easily apply for Lifeline, said an order Friday. The agency took similar action for those that Hurricane Helene affected earlier this month (see 2410020054). “Because of the exigent circumstances that arose from Hurricane Milton, we find that there is good cause for further action to expeditiously ensure that households receive critical assistance for their communications needs,” the order said.

Friday’s disaster information reporting system update for the 52 Florida counties affected by Hurricane Milton had 1.18 million cable and wireline subscribers without service as of Friday morning, an improvement from the 1.2 million without service Thursday. 12.1% of cellsites remain down in the affected counties, while Thursday’s update reported 12.3% down. Friday’s report lists 2 TV stations and 23 radio stations down, compared to 3 TV stations and 14 radio stations Thursday.

Friday’s DIRS update for Helene-affected counties in North Carolina and Tennessee showed an improvement in cellsites down, as compared with Thursday, going from 9.4% to 7.1%. However, the number of cable and wireline subscribers without service increased slightly, from 68,520 Thursday to 68,948 Friday.

The FCC’s Wireless and Public Safety Bureaus also issued a public notice Friday further extending regulatory and filing deadlines in Helene- and Milton-affected areas. All deadlines currently set between Oct. 28 and Nov. 28 now fall on Nov. 29, for licensees in the affected areas “that operate facilities, or, in a significant manner essential to the business or public safety operation, rely on personnel, records, or financial institutions located in the affected areas to provide services or to conduct substantial business activities with the Commission,” the PN said.

Restoring communications networks on Florida’s Barrier Islands in the Gulf of Mexico will take longer than on the mainland because technicians must wait for restoration of power and flooding to subside before entering the area, Comcast said in a blog post Friday. The affected islands include Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Sanibel and Captiva Islands, Comcast said. T-Mobile said that “fewer than 3%” of its customers in the Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Miami markets are without connectivity. “Despite challenging conditions in some areas, our crews are out in the field focusing on assessing sites, repairing damage and deploying portable generators in Miami as well as Desoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties,” T-Mobile said Friday, adding it expects Miami and Fort Myers and surrounding areas “to be nearly or fully restored later today.”

An AT&T spokesperson told us the company's wireless network in Florida is "operating at more than 93% of normal" and that restoration efforts will continue "around the clock" until service is restored.  AT&T also said that the company's FirstNet Response Operations Group is working to support public safety communications in the storm-affected regions.

In a blog post Friday, NAB, noting Federal Emergency Management Agency warnings about online misinformation, said, “Social media platforms became flooded with rumors, but local broadcasters stood firm, delivering trusted, real-time updates to cut through the noise” during storms Helene and Milton. “False claims about rescue operations and infrastructure stability caused unnecessary evacuations and panic,” NAB added. “During and after the storm," posted former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, "AM/FM Radio is often the only source of weather alerts and updates in your community.” Fugate is a longtime AM advocate who is also involved with AI broadcast alerting venture Beacon.