Blast in Nashville leads to shutdown of AT&T’s wireless service in several cities and states

RV explosion in Nashville on Christmas leads to outages for AT&T customers

Network hubs rely on power sourced from batteries and generators. The damage created by the explosion seems to have caused AT&T service to stop working at the airport and throughout other areas of the state and nearby regions. To keep cell service operating for law enforcement, and to improve wireless service in general, AT&T sent portable cell towers to Nashville. Besides the disruption in consumer based cellular communications, the blast disrupted communications related to aircraft operations at Nashville International Airport. The FAA decided to shut down air travel for about one hour. In a statement, the FAA said that, “Pilots never lost touch with air traffic control.”

Reports published late Friday said that the outages affecting AT&T customers in Nashville and the central parts of Tennessee were still creating havoc well into Friday night. The  region’s 9-1-1 emergency calling system was impacted by the outage and on social media users shared landline phone numbers or alternate numbers that could be used instead of the non-working 9-1-1. Later on Friday, Smyrna Police sent out a tweet that said, “911 has been re-established, but your name and location may not be seen by dispatchers. “Please give your name and location to dispatchers immediately.”

Friday afternoon, AT&T stated publicly that it was “bringing disaster recovery efforts into the Nashville area in response to the explosion.” The carrier admitted that the explosion damaged its facilities. In another statement, the carrier noted, “Power is essential to restoring wireless and wireline communications, and we are working with law enforcement to get access to our equipment and make needed repair. There are serious logistical challenges to working in a disaster area and we will make measurable progress in the hours and days ahead.”