Verizon (fortunately) left THOR out of LA fire response

Sometimes, less is better. That applies to the assets Verizon brought to the Los Angeles (CA) area during the devastating wildfires these past couple weeks. Verizon often deploys its Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response (THOR) vehicle when reacting to disasters like hurricanes and wildfires. But not so in LA. “THOR’s not needed because the assets we have in place are doing a fantastic job,” said Cory Davis, VP at Verizon Frontline.  “What we’re trying to do is actually shrink our footprint, so we’re not disrupting what’s coming in,” such as assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Given that fire trucks had trouble getting around after people fled for their lives – leaving stranded vehicles that had to be removed with bulldozers – Verizon decided to leave THOR at a site in Texas where other large deployable assets are being staged. Verizon brought plenty of smaller assets to the scene, including portable generators and temporary cell sites. The cell sites are temporary until Verizon and others can rebuild with permanent infrastructure. Ericsson is the dominant wireless infrastructure vendor in the LA market. Verizon and T-Mobile both use Ericsson in LA. AT&T is swapping out equipment across the U.S. after deciding in 2023 to go with Ericsson’s open Radio Access Network (RAN) technology and to remove Nokia, a process that is now underway and expected to be complete in 2026.