The Federal Communications Commission said that more than 1 million subscribers in the path of Hurricane Fiona — in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands — are without cable or wireline phone, TV or internet service.

About 7% of cell sites were out of service in the affected areas, but the FCC pointed out those disruptions do not necessarily equate to outages, as wireless networks are designed often with numerous overlapping sites to help provide continuity of service. Plus, wireless companies often use temporary sites, including mobile ones, or initiate roaming agreements.

By contrast, no TV or radio stations reported being out of service.

That is as of Sunday, the most recent update via the FCC’s voluntary Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS).

The National Hurricane Center says that catastrophic flooding continues across much of Puerto Rico. ▪️

Liberty Latin America said it has completed its purchase of wireless and wireline assets in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from AT&T on Oct. 31 in a deal valued at $1.95 billion.

Liberty Latin America first announced the deal in October 2019. Last month it said it had received approval from the U.S. Department of Justice for the transaction on the condition it divest of certain B2B assets in Puerto Rico.  

"By creating the leading integrated provider, we will deliver added value to customers through expanded product offerings, more resilient infrastructure, and world-class customer service levels,”  said Balan Nair, president and CEO of Liberty Latin America,  in a press release. “By completing this transaction, we continue to demonstrate our ability to execute on our disciplined inorganic growth strategy. We are excited about the opportunities ahead of us and are already working hard on our integration plan to drive value for our customers, our shareholders and our employees.”

Liberty Latin America said it has received U.S. Department of Justice approval of its purchase of AT&T wireless and wireline assets in the Caribbean, agreeing to divest of certain business-to-business operations in Puerto Rico.

Liberty Latin America agreed last October to purchase AT&T’s wireless and wireline assets in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for $1.95 billion. Obtaining DOJ approval was contingent on the deal closing.

To meet the conditions in the DOJ approval, Liberty Latin America said in a press release that it has entered into an agreement to divest part of its B2B operations in Puerto Rico. This divestiture is expected to close promptly. Liberty Latin America said it expects to close the AT&T transaction on Oct. 31.

Under terms of the agreement, AT&T said it will retain its FirstNet first responders network responsibilities and relationships as well as its DirecTV satellite television and certain global business customer relationships. After the deal closes, Liberty Latin America said it will support AT&T’s FirstNet build in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Liberty Latin America has agreed to purchase AT&T’s wireless and wireline assets in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for $1.95 billion in cash, the company said Wednesday.

Liberty Latin America, which was spun off from John Malone’s LibertyGlobal as an independent publicly traded company in 2018, already has an extensive presence in Puerto Rico. This deal, according to Liberty Latin America CEO Balan Nair, will allow the company to expand its product portfolio to include a popular post-paid mobile offering and increase its distribution channels on the island.

News of the deal boosted Liberty Latin America stock was up nearly 3% in early trading Wednesday to $17.06 per share.

“The combination of AT&T’s leading mobile businesses with Liberty Puerto Rico’s leading high-speed broadband and TV business will create a strong and competitive integrated communications player, with a combined annual revenue of over $1.2 billion in Puerto Rico and $4.6 billion across LLA,” Nair said in a press release. “By continuing to invest in digital infrastructure, innovation, 5G networks and a friendly customer service experience, we are confident that this new combination will support our long-term growth profile and that this deal will be free cash flow accretive on a per share basis.”

The sale should also serve to calm some investors who had been advocating for AT&T to sell off non-core assets to help pay down its $80 billion in debt. In September, investor Elliott Management called for the company to sell off its DirecTV and WarnerMedia units to focus on its core wireless business. While this deal is not early as extreme, it shows that the company is at least paying attention.

The assets involved in the deal include AT&T’s consumer mobile and B2B services in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but exclude its DirecTV customers in those areas. In Puerto Rico, which Liberty said accounts for about 90% of the total assets being acquired, AT&T is the top provider of mobile services, and has agreed to support Liberty Latin America for up to 36 months following the closing of the deal to enable an efficient transition.

Liberty Latin America will finance the transaction through a combination of $2.2 billion in borrowings on the combined assets and Liberty Puerto Rico (including refinancing $922.5 million in existing term loans at Liberty Puerto Rico) and the remaining $750 million from Liberty Latin America’s committed liquidity of $2.0 billion on June 30.

Liontree LLC and Credit Suisse are acting as financial advisers to Liberty Latin America on the transaction. 

The devastation in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean wrought by Hurricane Maria drove heavy subscriber losses at Dish Network in the third quarter, as the company suspended service for all its customers in that territory and the U.S. Virgin Islands affected by the storm.

Related: Pai Says More USF Money Needed to Help Puerto Rican Communications

Hurricane Maria swept through the Caribbean in September, causing extraordinary damage throughout the region. In Puerto Rico, 51 people were killed as a result of the storm and to date thousands are still without power and clean water.

In order to ensure its customers were not charged for service they couldn't receive, Dish said it paused the accounts of all 145,000 customers in the region in September. Coupled with a gain of 16,000 subscribers in the 50 states, Dish said it lost about 129,000 customers in the period.

Related: Dish 'Pauses' Service to Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

"In light of the situation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Dish expects to incur certain expenses in connection with the re-activation of returning customers in these areas," the company said in a statement. "Accordingly, any returning customers will be recorded as gross new pay TV subscriber activations for the period in which they return."

Revenue at the satellite TV service provider dipped to $3.6 billion in the period, from $3.8 billion in the prior year. Net income declined to $297 million (57 cents per share) from $318 million (67 cents per share) in the prior year.

The FCC said more than a third (38.9%) of cell sites in Puerto Rico are out of service, according to its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for Hurricane Irma in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The agency also said more than 50% of cell sites are out in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The agency had no direct comparisons to the day-before figures because the FCC extended the reporting area to the entirety of both.

The FCC triggered the status reports for Irma -- as it had for Hurricane Harvey -- on Sept. 6 and will certainly extend it to Florida soon.

DIRS is a voluntary web-based reporting system that communications outlets — broadcast, cable, wireless, wireline — use to keep the FCC apprised of the status of their communications infrastructure.

The FCC has limited information on cable and broadcast, but said that given widespread power outages, it has reports that large percentages of cable and wireline subs are without service. According to what it said was limited information, no broadcasters are off the air in the affected areas.