Washington, D.C. - Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to conduct a Commission-level review of the resiliency of our nation’s networks and the effect of the Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework in the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
Last year, Pallone worked with the wireless industry to create the Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework, which was developed to strengthen our communications networks during emergencies. The Framework includes requirements for making roaming and mutual aid arrangements available during a disaster so that consumers can be connected even if their provider is down and, among other things, allows the FCC to publish wireless network outage data during disasters to give the public and officials a snapshot of the problematic areas.
“During natural disasters, people depend on networks to call for help, monitor the status of loved ones, and coordinate restoration efforts afterward. And while much has been done to strengthen the resiliency of these networks, more is clearly needed,"Pallone wrote to Pai. “Given the recent devastating hurricanes, the FCC has an obligation to review the state of our communications systems, the resilience of our 911 systems, and whether the Framework lives up to its potential."
Pallone’s SANDy Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives on January 24th, would add communications network operators to the list of essential service providers that have access to a disaster area in an effort to address rebound outages. Such outages occur when network operators do not receive priority access to disaster zones to refuel the networks’ backup generators.
As part of the review, Pallone is asking the FCC to:
* Review how it can ensure the Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework is as effective as possible, including better informing public safety officials about the Framework;
* Evaluate all of the data available to the Commission to better understand the root cause of wireless and wireline outages;
* Evaluate all of the data available to the Commission to better understand the root causes of outages among public safety answering points (PSAPs) and relevant public safety service providers;
* Review the effects recent disasters have had on our communications networks to identify what worked, what did not, and where we can improve;
* Conduct field hearings to uncover what led to the outages caused by recent hurricanes and how the Commission can respond; and
* Evaluate the potential options available to the Commission to address issues raised during its review.
Full text of the letter can be found here.
