Firefighters have made significant progress in containing the California wildfires, and major wireless carriers have made strides in restoring connectivity to affected areas. The Hughes, Palisades and Eaton fires are all over 90% contained, according to The New York Times.
But, repairs to damaged network infrastructure such as fiber will take time. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have deployed temporary mobile assets to fill in connectivity gaps and support affected residents and businesses.
Here's a look at the carriers' initial efforts to support network access. Read on for an update on how the networks are faring now and what resources are available to wildfire survivors.
Verizon
By January 13, Verizon had restored nearly "90% of the macro cell sites that were impacted by the wildfires, windstorms and Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS)." Verizon said its network was only minimally impacted in the Pasadena and Altadena areas, and the network was not affected by the Hughes or Sepulveda Fires.
Verizon said it has continued deploying mobile assets and portable generators where needed and is also using satellite backhaul to fill in network coverage gaps. The operator deployed a temporary mobile cell site for the Palisades community after its macro cell site was destroyed by the fire. Verizon is also working with local partners and agencies to repair fiber burned during the Palisades fire.
Related:Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile take on California wildfires

(Source: Verizon) A Verizon COLT mobile asset deployed during the California wildfires in January 2025.
Locals can continue to access charging and Wi-Fi stations at designated Verizon stores and shelters and at American Red Cross shelters.
In addition, Verizon has deployed free Wi-Fi and charging stations for public use at a number of American Red Cross shelters throughout the community, with additional deployments underway.
Verizon has also extended the waiving of some service fees for residents in Southern California. Domestic call, text and data usage from January 18-February 28 is waived for postpaid consumer customers in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
The Verizon Foundation donated $1 million toward communities impacted by the wildfires, including $500,000 to the American Red Cross and $500,000 to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation (LAFD). The Verizon Foundation is also a FireAid benefit concert sponsor.
Spectrum has also donated $500,000 to the LAFD, American Red Cross Los Angeles Region and the California Fire Foundation. In addition, the service provider has contributed $1 million to small businesses in the area through the Spectrum Community Investment Loan Fund and $1 million in-kind PSA airtime for non-profits to support their wildfire relief efforts. Spectrum has opened over 35,000 out-of-home Wi-Fi access points available to the public for free.
AT&T
As of January 17, AT&T said its wireless network is operating at 99% of normal in the Greater Los Angeles area. By January 14, AT&T said that over 91% of its affected cell sites have been restored and of the home and Internet customers affected, more than 96% of their service has been restored.
AT&T's FirstNet team, which prioritizes connectivity to first responders, has worked closely with agencies including CalFire to deploy mobile FirstNet cell sites and Compact Rapid Deployables (CRDs) to provide FirstNet connectivity.
Flying COWs (Cells on Wings) were among the temporary mobile assets AT&T deployed to support network connectivity and emergency services during the wildfires. Flying COWs were deployed at Zuma Beach in Malibu, the Riviera and Palisades-Brentwood neighborhoods, and the Huntington Palisades neighborhood. The Flying COWs can cover 90 users at a time, transmit 4GB per hour and deliver an average of 170 Mbit/s download speeds.
AT&T also deployed some satellite connectivity assets including low-Earth orbit cell trailers (LCTs) and low-Earth orbit communication portables (LECPs). The operator's Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) team and the FirstNet Response Operations Group (ROG) deployed two AT&T Super Cell on Wheels (Super COWs) to a public safety incident command post to deliver connectivity to first responders and wireless customers. AT&T said its Super COWS generate 10x the capacity of a normal antenna.

(Source: AT&T) Compact Rapid Deployables (CRD) are one of the more portable connectivity assets to support emergency services.
AT&T distributed portable power packs last Tuesday in Santa Monica and Pasadena, and it is providing customers with free Nighthawk M6 Pro hotspots, courtesy of Netgear, at select retail locations. The hotspots provide three months of free unlimited data.
AT&T is sponsoring an upcoming FireAid benefit concert with a $2 million donation which will go toward rebuilding communities impacted by the wildfires.
DirecTV is also donating $1 million to FireAid and will broadcast the January 30th concert for free on MyFree DirectTV.
T-Mobile
As of January 24, T-Mobile said its network in Southern California is "operating as normal" and it has temporary network assets deployed to areas that experienced the most damage from the wildfires.
Temporary mobile assets the operator has deployed include Satellite Cell on Wheels (SatCOWs), Satellite Cell on Light Trucks (SatCOLTs) and additional backhaul solutions to damaged cell sites. The service provider's engineers are working on erecting a longer-term temporary cell tower, called a lite site, at the Palisades Recreation Center.
T-Mobile deployed a mobile command center at Will Rogers State Beach to support first responders including the Los Angeles Fire Department with a trailer equipped with workstations, sleep areas, a restroom and shower. T-Priority, T-Mobile's first responder network, has been deployed to the Los Angeles Fire Department members and other local first responders to connect to the operator's 5G standalone (SA) network. First responders also have access to charging supplies via T-Priority routers, external 5G antennas and eSIMS at a number of command posts.

(Source: T-Mobile) T-Mobile supports first responders and community members during Southern California fires, January 2025.
The company has added a number of cities in the Greater Los Angeles area to its unlimited talk, text and data offering, and extended the service through February 28. Free Wi-Fi and charging access is available at select T-Mobile stores in the region. T-Mobile is waiving home Internet equipment non-return fees for customers with devices that were lost or damaged in the fires.
T-Mobile donated $1 million to the American Red Cross to support communities impacted by the wildfires and through February 4th is doubling donations made to the American Red Cross via the T-Life app, up to an additional $1 million.