Pallone Introduces Emergency Communications Bill
House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., introduced the Securing Access to Networks in Disasters Act Monday, which his office is also calling the SANDy Act. “During the storm and for weeks afterwards, many of us were left stranded,…
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with no way to reach friends, to call loved ones, or even to call for help,” Pallone said in a statement. “That is simply unacceptable. So today I am introducing the SANDy Act to ensure we can all communicate, even when the worst occurs.” The bill would ensure that people can call on other carriers’ networks if their own networks fail and that providers of radio, TV and phone service can remedy outages more easily across state borders, enhance coordination among carriers, utilities and public safety, kickstart a way to deliver 911 aid via Wi-Fi hotspots and begin studying future network resiliency challenges, according to Pallone’s office. APCO backs the bill. “As crafted, it contains a number of provisions that would be helpful to 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) facing future large-scale disasters, and would generally lead to improvements in emergency communications in such situations,” said Derek Poarch, executive director of APCO International. A Pallone spokesman didn't provide the bill text or information about co-sponsors Monday.