Last year’s derecho communications failure in the mid-Atlantic region created...

last summer, noted the 911 outages inspired many investigations, including those by the FCC and the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and pointed to issues that state and local government officials should consider. State and local 911 authorities need to assess fully their 911 systems and review 911 laws and regulations, the report said: “The interest of the public and public safety should come first over the interest of commercial providers.” The report addressed both funding and coming technology changes: “State and local 9-1-1 authorities should work with their Legislators to ensure the funding required to support the current 9-1-1 services and future Next Generation 9-1-1 are adequate and available, and that the fees and funds collected from the citizens of their States for 9-1-1 services are dedicated and used solely for the purpose as intended for the implementation, operation and maintenance of 9-1-1 emergency telephone services and other supporting technologies,” and that they're “equitably distributed to the 9-1-1 authorities,” it said. The MWCOG should form a more permanent committee of 911 directors and “take the lead to work cooperatively in the development of a multi-year 9-1-1 strategic plan to include development and implementation of Next Generation 9-1-1,” it said. Verizon’s 911 service failed due to backup power issues and could have done better during the derecho and must do more, on an ongoing basis, to regain the trust of public safety officials, the report said. Verizon defended its activities and “acted decisively and aggressively to identify and resolve 911 issues and other areas for improvement,” said Verizon Mid-Atlantic Vice President of Network Operations Maureen Davis in a statement. She described “substantial progress,” ranging from “audits of key 911 facilities to improved communications with the public safety community -- progress that was borne out in our solid performance during and after Hurricane Sandy last fall and, most recently, last week’s winter storm that brought heavy snow and high winds to parts of the region.” Verizon has worked “actively” with the MWCOG, she added. Davis authored a Wednesday blog post (http://vz.to/Z6ygsu) outlining the telco’s efforts, such as backup power audits and diversifying its network monitoring system.