FCC Sets 2013 Field Hearings to Investigate Sandy’s Impact, Make Resiliency Recommendations

"I urge all stakeholders to engage constructively in the period ahead,” Genachowski said in a statement Wednesday. The “unprecedented” storm calls for “national dialogue around ideas and actions to ensure the resilience of communications networks,” he said. The FCC is launching the hearings after Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, urged Genachowski to create a “national plan” to deal with such disasters (CD Nov 21 p9).

These types of hearings tend to be “most constructive when they're not fault-finding” so much as “fact-finding,” National Emergency Number Association CEO Brian Fontes told us. He pointed out the value in waiting these months so the different companies and stakeholders involved can conduct their internal assessments and then truly share lessons learned. There’s great potential for such hearings to be “informative” and “helpful,” Fontes said: “Hats off to the FCC and the chairman for announcing this.”

Several questions and considerations will inform the investigation, the FCC said. These will include how telcos and carriers took advantage of advance notice of Sandy, the amount of backup power available, how companies communicated with customers, backhaul redundancy, emergency collaboration and sharing of resources like cell sites, Wi-Fi networks and transmission facilities, the challenges of transport, interconnection and switching, and the slow pace at which services recovered post-Sandy. The FCC spotlighted an ongoing question of consumer ignorance of backup power limitations with modern telecom technology: “To what extent is back-up power provided for equipment in the home?” one question asked. “What can be done to improve consumer awareness of the limits of any back-up battery power that may be available when commercial power fails and what can be done to improve upon these limitations?"

"We understand concerns of public officials who -- with us -- have the best interests of wireless consumers and the general public in mind,” said Verizon spokesman Ed McFadden in a statement. “As the industry leader, we look forward to a continued dialogue and discussion of issues regarding public safety.” He reiterated the company’s commitment to its customers and said Verizon’s “performance in the wake of Superstorm Sandy demonstrates our commitment to customers and that our network strategy of ongoing investment and preparedness is working.” He added that they still strive to learn from different situations.

"Field hearings will increase our understanding of the problems encountered during Superstorm Sandy and harvest the best ideas to ensure that mobile phone service doesn’t fail after future storms,” Schumer said in a statement. He called mobile communications “an essential part” of life today and called for prioritizing its resilience.

The hearings have the potential to be avenues for “new concepts,” Fontes said, citing next generation 911 efforts and what he calls “911 data analytics.” NENA has focused on how 911 centers can monitor emergency calls “in the aggregate” in real time, with the potential to see when a center encounters “a steep, rapid growth” or “a drop-off,” such as in northern Virginia during the derecho wind storm, he said. “We've been working with a few different vendors and reviewing their products.” In mid-November NENA Director of Government Affairs Trey Forgety described this new technology as potentially inexpensive (CD Nov 14 p17).

Some laws and regulations may require changing, the FCC noted. The National 911 Office, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, loudly called out for changing emergency communications laws this month: “Current laws and regulations in most States do not effectively enable the implementation of new technologies, or allow the level of coordination and partnerships among government and public safety stakeholders, service and equipment providers, 9-1-1 public safety answering points, and 9-1-1 authorities that are necessary to implement IP-enabled 9-1-1 systems,” a new report said (http://xrl.us/bn2uc8). The report offers guidelines for how states should adjust their laws to accommodate NG-911. It recommends a hard look at how states fund 911, liability, the role of a state’s 911 office and the importance of a statewide 911 plan. DOT Program Analyst Laurie Flaherty talks frequently with FCC Chief of Public Safety and Homeland Security David Turetsky, she told state regulators at a meeting in Baltimore earlier this month. Her office is continuing to examine how 911 should be funded over time, she said, describing future projects to that end. Emergency communications and 911 networks “generally remained operational during Sandy,” the FCC said, adding that it will look toward “what technologies and actions might help” benefit the networks.

Jurisdictional questions have “evolved quite a bit,” Maryland Public Service Commission Chairman Doug Nazarian told us, with state and local officials carrying less authority over new telecom technologies. Oversight will likely move even more “into the federal sphere” as telcos push for a transition off copper and to IP, he said. Fontes praised the FCC’s role as a “central depository” for information during the “throes of a disaster” like Sandy. He served as a Cingular Wireless vice president when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. “We were being inundated from local municipalities wanting information,” he said, with many requests “redundant.” “You can be overwhelmed very, very quickly.” The FCC, as a central source of reporting and information, “provides for a better opportunity to respond” in an “efficient and effective way,” he said. “That was a great lesson learned from Katrina.” Nazarian questioned leaving reporting to the FCC: “We want to be mindful we're not creating needless redundancy or duplication,” he said, but he described the need for a “best balance” in addition to “streamlining.” Municipalities may want “more granular” detail than what’s reported to the FCC, and during a major event like Sandy, “it wouldn’t be rational” to expect municipalities to have to turn to the FCC for information, he said. There are “public interest” concerns at stake, Nazarian said, adding that he believes states should still play a role over 911 and other emergency communications.

As the FCC said, Sandy’s effects lasted days after the storm. Verizon asked the FCC for a short waiver Wednesday to “avoid de-enrolling Lifeline customers in New York and New Jersey that may not be able to verify their continued program eligibility,” according to a filing released Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bn2ujr). There’s been a low response rate to the telco’s recertification work, Verizon said, attributing it to the storm’s “extensive” damage. Verizon requests the FCC delay its deadline from Dec. 31 to March 31.