The FCC activated the disaster information reporting system for 62 counties in Florida for Hurricane Ian, said a public notice Tuesday. The agency also issued public notices on emergency contact information for licensees that need special temporary authority, priority communications services, and on 24-hour availability of FCC staff. The Public Safety Bureau also sent a warning to avoid damaging communications infrastructure during debris clearing operations. “PSHSB encourages those entities working to clear debris, repair utility lines, and restore services to ensure their activities do not damage critical communications,” the PN said. For areas of Puerto Rico impacted by Hurricane Fiona, DIRS data shows 194,586 cable and wireline subscribers without service, a large improvement over the 503,664 from Monday’s data. The report also shows 14.1% of cellsites down, plus two FM stations and one AM station. No public safety access points were reported down.
The FCC owns a dozen bulletproof vests, but no firearms or ammunition, the commission said in response to a Freedom of Information Act request we filed in August. It said the vests, all Galls SE Series IIA and IIIA body armor, were purchased in response to a 2016 recommendation by the commission's Inspector General.
The FCC disaster information reporting system showed 503,664 cable and wireline subscribers without service in Puerto Rico Monday due to Hurricane Fiona, a slight improvement from 504,730 Sunday. “This includes the loss of telephone, television, and/or Internet services,” the report said. 17.7% of cellsites are down in the affected area, along with five FM stations and two AM stations. No public safety access points were reported down.
The date of the November FCC meeting was changed from Nov. 18 to Nov. 17, said a Friday notice. The agency didn’t comment Monday, but meetings are most often rescheduled to accommodate commissioner schedules. The meeting will be in person at FCC headquarters.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks is headed to Bucharest, Romania, as part of the U.S. delegation to the ITU’s plenipotentiary conference, the agency said Monday. Starks said he’s “especially proud” to support Doreen Bogdan-Martin as the next secretary general. The election is Thursday, during the first week of the meeting. Bogdan-Martin is “a visionary leader on the future of digital connectivity,” Starks said: “I’ll be there on the ground to support her in Bucharest for this extremely important election.” The plenipot runs through Oct. 14.
President Joe Biden endorsed U.S.-backed ITU secretary-general candidate Doreen Bogdan-Martin Tuesday, spotlighting her contest against Russian nominee Rashid Ismailov less than two weeks before the vote at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Bucharest (see 2209190059). Bogdan-Martin “possesses the integrity, experience, and vision necessary to transform the digital landscape,” Biden said in a statement: “She understands the importance of connecting every school to the Internet and making sure every student can access virtual learning, providing women and girls the digital tools they need to succeed, and extending the benefits of online health and educational resources.” It’s “hard to believe that in today’s digital world, 2.9 billion people globally have no access to the Internet and its many benefits,” he said: The next ITU secretary-general “will play an important role in making our digital future inclusive and accessible for everyone, especially in the developing world.” The U.S. Council for International Business also supported the candidacy. “By virtue of her current leadership of the ITU Development Bureau, we believe that Ms. Bogdan-Martin possesses both substantive knowledge and leadership skills that would make her a superb ITU Secretary General,” the group said. Headed into the conference, USCIB “opposes the ITU assuming a role in managing, coordinating, overseeing, or otherwise regulating the use of the Internet on grounds that this is beyond the ITU’s authority and expertise.”
The FCC “is assessing the impact on communications services and infrastructure” of Hurricane Fiona and is “issuing daily public reports to keep people informed,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a release Tuesday. “We will work closely with government partners and communications providers to support restoration efforts as families and residents all over the island begin to rebuild, once again.” The FCC disaster information reporting system showed 741,451 cable and wireline subscribers without service in Puerto Rico Wednesday due to Hurricane Fiona, an improvement from 795,289 in Tuesday’s report. The newest report shows five FM stations and four AM stations out of service, and 29.9% of cellsites down. No public safety access points were reported down during the storm, the DIRS release said. The agency is “deploying staff to the affected areas to perform post-landfall, on-site surveys of communications services and infrastructure as well as to assist with coordination and oversight of communications restoration,” the release said. The FCC has been coordinating with FEMA, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and government officials both before the storm and now, the release said. The agency has also been surveying spectrum usage in targeted areas and extending regulatory fee deadlines, public file deadlines, and other FCC dates for broadcasters and other affected communications providers.
The FCC deactivated the disaster information reporting system for the U.S. Virgin Islands, but the system remains in effect for all of Puerto Rico due to damage from Hurricane Fiona, said a public notice Monday. A Wireline Bureau order Tuesday also temporarily waived the agency’s phone number aging rule, to allow quick reassignment of numbers in Puerto Rico. “We also encourage all service providers in the areas affected by Hurricane Fiona to waive call forwarding, message center, and voicemail service charges for affected customers, to the extent lawfully permitted, until the customers’ service is restored,” the PN said. The agency established a website prior to landfall as a centralized location for all FCC information related to Hurricane Fiona, including emergency communications tips in English and Spanish, and communication status reports, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a release Tuesday.
Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will keynote the Communications Equity and Diversity Council Digital Skills Gap Symposium and Town Hall Thursday (see 2209120046), said an agenda released Tuesday. The event is to “examine the issues and challenges that states and localities face in addressing the need for greater adoption of digital skills training,” the agenda said. The event also will include a town hall discussion and a panel on efforts to increase broadband access such as the Digital Equity Act and the Affordable Connectivity Program.
The FCC expanded its list of "covered" equipment suppliers -- deemed to present security concerns -- adding Chinese companies PacNet/ComNet and China Unicom (Americas) Tuesday. That brings the number on the list to 10, all Chinese except for Russia’s AO Kaspersky Lab. Additions were last made in March (see 2203250067). Both companies “have been determined by Executive Branch interagency bodies to pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons,” said a Public Safety Bureau notice. The Chinese government’s “majority ownership and control of PacNet and its wholly-owned subsidiary ComNet … combined with Chinese intelligence and cybersecurity laws, raise concerns that PacNet/ComNet will be forced to comply with Chinese government requests for communications intercepts, without the ability to challenge such requests,” the bureau said: “The Executive Branch entities have determined that services provided by China Unicom associated with its international section 214 authorization pose a substantial and unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States and its people.”