Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell led a team of
agency officials Wednesday to inspect telecommunications facilities damaged in
last week's terrorist attack on the World Trade Center,.
Powell reviewed the grounds where thousands of people perished as part of a
group led by Verizon Communications president and co-CEO Ivan Seidenberg.
Seidenberg disclosed the tour with FCC officials in an interview Wednesday night
with Cable News Network.
The collapse of the Twin Towers after being rammed by two jetliners also
caused damage to one of Verizon's major switching centers adjacent to the
devastated area in southern Manhattan.
Powell visited the site in the afternoon, accompanied by
Common Carrier chief Dorothy Attwood and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
chief Thomas Sugrue, an FCC source said.
'While I cannot adequately describe the total devastation and destruction I
witnessed at the site of the attack, I can report how deeply impressed and proud
I was by both the intensity of the repair efforts and the committment the
industry is bringing to this task,' Powell said in a prepared statement.
'These companies know how important telecommunications is in our society
today and how essential it is to consumers and businesses alike to have their
damaged or destroyed lines operational as soon as possible,' he
added.
