Wireless providers report coverage restored to most areas hit by Hurricane Katrina, and all telephone companies are stepping up efforts to assist evacuees and restore landline and wireless telephone service to affected areas.

SBC Communications reports that it has sent 140 technicians from across the country to assist BellSouth with recovery efforts, and has more technicians on standby if needed. SBC has also sent two central office generators to supply emergency power to wire centers and two microwave trailers to provide temporary data transmission facilities.

SBC is also providing free local and long distance telephone service, voicemail services and Internet services, for evacuees in Texas shelters.

In Louisiana and Mississippi, only a few central offices remain out of service as of Monday afternoon. Most are back up and running on either commercial power or emergency generator power. BellSouth estimates that over 9,000 poles are down throughout the region, however, and these will have to be righted before service can be restored to many customers. If your phone is not in the exchanges listed below, contact BellSouth to open a repair ticket.

The exchanges without service as of Monday afternoon are:

Area code 228

245, 452, 533

Area code 504

240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 248, 260, 270, 271, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 286, 288, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 488, 656, 662, 676, 682, 684, 816, 821, 822, 826, 827, 940, 941, 942, 943, 944, 945, 946, 947, 948, 949

Area code 985

333, 531, 534, 564, 657

BellSouth is providing free Louisiana telephone directories to evacuees in the Houston Astrodome and other facilities. If you need a directory, contact 1-800-422-1955, and be prepared to provide your New Orleans-area telephone number. BellSouth will then deliver your directory to you. BellSouth estimates it will be a few weeks before it will have directories available to other areas in Texas and to other states, but you can still get your order in now. You can also access directory information at http://www.realpageslive.com/.

In addition, BellSouth is offering free service moves, free inside wiring and installation of one jack, and one month of services such as voicemail, call forwarding, remote access to call forwarding, and unlimited dial-up access for FastAccess DSL customers. If you can’t access your telephone, you can use call forwarding and remote access to call forwarding to have your calls to your home number forwarded to wherever you are. To set up these features, contact BellSouth at 1-888-757-6500 (residential) or 1-866-620-6000 (business).

Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel all have reported that coverage has been mostly restored throughout the areas affected by the hurricane. Only parts of New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., remain without full coverage at this time, though a minimal signal should be available virtually anywhere outdoors. Providers recommend sending text messages instead of making calls whenever possible to help ensure that your message gets through.

AT&T on Monday released a report stating that many U.S. businesses have no business continuity plans to face a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina.