Katrina Packed A Powerful Punch: Too Much For Any Phone System; BellSouth Took Big Hit; Network is recoverable, says the carrier's chief, a veteran of 53 hurricanes.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)

Publication: Investor's Business Daily

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.

Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE

Hurricanes, even a Katrina, eventually blow over.

BellSouth has a lot of work to do to recover from Katrina. The Atlanta-based phone company also faces long-term challenges that are here to stay. One is the rise of Internet-based phone services called voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP. Another is wireless competition, even though BellSouth owns 40% of the nation's No. 1 wireless carrier, Cingular, while SBC owns the rest. Wireless growth reduces the need for wirelines, which can be more profitable.

And BellSouth risks being dominated by the two bigger local Bells. SBC is buying AT&Tand Verizon is buying MCI. Those deals are expected to close soon.

BellSouth Chief Executive Duane Ackerman recently spoke with IBD about all that's on his busy plate nowadays.

IBD: How well-prepared is the telecom industry to handle a national emergency such as Katrina?

Ackerman: I don't know of a hardened architecture capable of withstanding a Category 4 or Cat 5 hurricane. There's going to be structural damage.

Those are tornadic-force winds. That's going to twist towers, break bridges, knock down highways, put the lights out and damage communications.

I don't think we can build an expectation in the public's mind that somehow that (damage) is not supposed to happen. That would be dangerous. We shouldn't expect that there'll be no infrastructure...

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