CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thousands of people in western North Carolina are still experiencing spotty cellphone service or none at all in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Cell service continues to improve in the mountains with an estimated 80% of access being restored, but some remote areas are still impacted by outages.
Numerous posts have been circulating on social media after the storm claiming that all cell towers will work with any network right now, but is that true?
THE CLAIM
This post on Facebook claims that if you are in western North Carolina in the affected areas all cellphone towers are open to not just one carrier but all of them.
THE ANSWER
Yes, this is true.
North Carolina Emergency Management says telecommunications partners have activated "disaster roaming" which allows phones on any cellular network to access the closest available network.
RELATED: Homeowners accuse Duke Energy of protecting Lake Norman properties during Helene's flooding
OUR SOURCES
WHAT WE FOUND
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile say this service is offered at no cost as cleanup and rescue efforts continue in communities impacted by Helene. Companies are also working around the clock to get people connected with loved ones.
Verizon issued a statement saying other than a few towers that are still inaccessible in Chimney Rock, crews have reached every impacted site in western North Carolina. The sites have generators are are on fueling planes, however, fiber to many locations is still out.
Meanwhile, AT&T recently deployed their flying COW, which stands for cell on wings. The technology was deployed in three Mitchell County cities, connecting people to family and emergency services to receive critical updates. T-Mobile says it's setting up stations in North Carolina that allow people to charge their devices and access Wi-Fi.
Starlink, the satellite internet service developed by SpaceX, has over 6,000 low-orbit satellites connecting with ground receivers in the region, giving people much-needed internet access in the aftermath of the storm.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
