Wireless and wireline carriers said they are prepared to respond to Hurricane Ophelia wherever it makes landfall on the east coast.

Ophelia is currently a Category 1 hurricane, now off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

BellSouth said yesterday that its network remains largely unaffected by the storm, though some isolated outages exist and it is moving generators and other resources into the areas to restore service.

Residence customers who need to report a problem with their BellSouth service should call 611 or 1-877-737-2478 from their home phone or 1-800-642-0544, if calling from a cellular phone. Business customers should call 1-866-620-6900 from their business or 1-800-252-0803, if calling from a cellular phone.

Sprint Nextel and Cingular Wireless announced they have prepositioned generators and portable cell sites in staging areas to respond to any service disruptions. Both carriers said that they have sufficient resources to handle both Hurricane Ophelia and ongoing service restoration efforts from the impact of Hurricane Katrina.