Federal Communications Commission fcc 13-158 Before the Federal Communications Commission

A.PSAP Outage Notification

CXLIII.Under the amended rule, Covered 911 Service Providers must notify PSAPs of outages potentially affecting 911 service to that PSAP within thirty minutes of discovering the outage and provide contact information such as a name, telephone number, and e-mail for follow-up. As Fairfax County observes, this initial notification should be based on the “best available information,” but the unavailability of any piece of information should not delay a service provider’s initial contact with an affected PSAP.³²⁵ Unlike for purposes of outage reporting in NORS, service providers must notify PSAPs of 911 outages upon discovering the outage, not upon determining that the outage is NORS-reportable.³²⁶

CXLIV.Whenever additional material information becomes available, but no later than two hours after the initial contact, the Covered 911 Service Provider must communicate additional detail to the PSAP, including the nature of the outage, its best-known cause, the geographic scope of the outage, and the estimated time for repairs.³²⁷ Although the 911 Reliability NPRM proposed requiring additional details such as the estimated number of users affected, actions being taken by the service provider to address the outage, and recommended actions the impacted facility should take to minimize disruption of service,³²⁸ commenters disagree whether this information is reasonably available to service providers or useful to PSAPs during a service outage.³²⁹ Accordingly, while we decline to specifically require this information in all outage notifications, we encourage service providers to include these and other details that may be useful to affected PSAPs as they become available.

CXLV.The 911 Reliability NPRM proposed requiring service providers to notify PSAPs of 911 outages “immediately by telephone and in writing via electronic means.”³³⁰ The rules we adopt today provide a more objective basis for enforcement. APCO, for example, notes that “the term ‘immediately’ could be open to disputed interpretation” and suggests that notification should be provided “immediately, within no more than 15 minutes of the service provider becoming aware of the outage.”³³¹ Other public-safety commenters recommend initial notification “within 15 to 30 minutes (maximum) of the discovery of an outage,”³³² or “within one hour of discovery.”³³³ We believe the thirty-minute limit adopted here strikes an appropriate balance between these comments and service providers’ need for time to gather information.

CXLVI.Generally, commenters note that there will likely be a tradeoff between the time allowed for notification and the amount and accuracy of information available.³³⁴ Fairfax County observes that a requirement to communicate specific information such as the nature and location of the outage should not prevent service providers from notifying PSAPs immediately with a “broad-brush picture of the situation” and following up with additional information as it becomes available.³³⁵ We agree with this approach and believe it accounts for the concerns of PSAPs and service providers.

CXLVII.Commenters also addressed acceptable methods of outage notification. Some suggest that notification “by telephone and in writing” should not preclude PSAPs and service providers from agreeing on alternative methods of communication if they prefer.³³⁶ APCO comments that “the method of notification should include electronic communication and positive, verified human contact with an on-duty PSAP supervisor.”³³⁷ Similarly, “NENA believes that both telephone and email notification of outages should be required offerings, but also believes that carriers, SSPs, and 911 authorities should have the flexibility to agree to other primary means of notification that might better meet 911 authorities’ requirements.”³³⁸ We agree and note that our amendments do not preclude service providers and PSAPs from establishing additional means of communication during an outage so long as they are mutually agreed upon in advance so that PSAPs can plan accordingly.

CXLVIII.One commenter argues that some PSAPs may not want to receive outage notifications, and the Commission should provide an “opt-out mechanism” for those PSAPs.³³⁹ This appears to be based on the argument that “a PSAP may not have an administrative presence on a full-time (24/7) basis” and that “911 service providers should also have flexibility in determining specific information that is desired or needed by the individual PSAPs.”³⁴⁰ We decline to adopt any such language. Our goal is to ensure that PSAPs receive timely and actionable notification of 911 outages by establishing minimum criteria by which 911 service providers must abide. The overwhelming majority of comments indicate that PSAPs desire to receive as much information as possible about such outages, without the need for an opt-out mechanism.³⁴¹

CXLIX.Some commenters argue that more stringent PSAP notification requirements would increase costs to service providers and divert resources away from more productive efforts to restore services.³⁴² We disagree, and stress that we do not seek to replace the existing scheme with a new, more onerous one, but rather to clarify the timing and notification content with which certain service providers subject to section 4.9 must already comply. Experience from the derecho indicated that some service providers were not complying with the most basic portion of the rules, i.e., the obligation to actually contact the PSAP. We trust that our action today will provide more guidance on expectations for providers, and increased compliance with the outage notification rules. Our goal is certainly not to substantially increase the burden on service providers; nor is it to divert them from performing what is ultimately the most important task – restoring emergency communications services.

CL.These amendments to section 4.9 will extend to all Covered 911 Service Providers, as defined in this Report and Order,³⁴³ regardless of the technology they employ. One commenter urges us to amend the outage-notification rules covering a broader range of communications providers, including those that originate 911 calls.³⁴⁴ In light of the limited focus of this proceeding, however, we conclude that the specific obligations of the amended rules should apply only to Covered 911 Service Providers, which are the entities most likely to experience reportable outages affecting 911 service. We defer for future consideration whether other entities currently subject to PSAP notification requirements (i.e., cable, satellite, wireless, wireline, and interconnected VoIP providers) should be subject to more specific obligations based on the functions they provide in 911 networks.³⁴⁵