FCC Mandates Best Practices For 911 Reliability

on December 13, 2013

Declaring that the reliability of the nation’s 911 system is paramount, and acknowledging that past voluntary actions by 911 service carriers to improve reliability has been insufficient, yesterday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued rules to establish annual carrier certification, along with requirements for circuit diversity, battery backup, network monitoring and outage notifications to public safety answering points (PSAP). The commission was divided on the issue of how to improve 911 reliability, with dissenting commissioners saying the rules were too burdensome for carriers, and puts the FCC in the position of micromanaging the nation’s 911 systems. The new rules were sparked by widespread 911 network outages in the midwest and east from a derecho storm in June 2012. A January 2013 report (pdf) said 77 PSAPs lot some degree of 911 service during the storm, mostly from 911 service provider network problems. After proposing rules earlier this year and accepting comments, the FCC now requires 911 providers to annually certify they have adopted best practices to insure reliable 911 service. Service providers who do not provide sufficient proof of best practices will receive FCC scrutiny, and in “extreme cases” could be referred to the Enforcement Bureau “for further action as appropriate.” The best practices include providing multiple paths for 911-related circuits, eliminating any single points of failure. and auditing the circuits each year. Central offices with selective routers must have back-up power for at least 72 hours at full load, the FCC states. But the FCC estimates that 99 percent of selective router facilities already have back-up power. Lastly, 911 providers must perform network monitoring to quickly detect 911 outages, and must initially notify PSAPs about them within 30 minutes. Within two hours the provider must communicate additional details about the outage to PSAPs and estimated time for repairs. Download (pdf) the Report and Order to read about what proposals the FCC did not adopt, and the commissioners’ statements on the new rules for their specific objections to the new rules.

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) issued the following statement in response to the Report and Order:

The 9-1-1 Association (www.NENA.org) applauds today’s action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to improve 9-1-1 reliability (PS Docket No. 13-75) and the reliability and continuity of communication networks, including broadband technologies (PS Docket No. 11-60). This action will increase the likelihood of reaching 9-1-1 in times of emergency by requiring telecommunications infrastructure owners to certify compliance with best practices and routinely audit network elements that are essential for 9-1-1 service, such as path diversity. While there can never be a fail-proof assurance that telecommunications infrastructure will survive every man-made or natural disaster, today’s action lays out a process to routinely certify those elements of infrastructure that are essential to sustaining and restoring 9-1-1 service. NENA recognizes that mandatory circuit audits and certification processes will come at a cost, but these costs must be weighed against the value of 9-1-1 service to the thousands of Americans who face emergencies every day. With nearly 250 million 9-1-1 calls made each year in the United States, it is critical that all parties with responsibility for provisioning 9-1-1 service routinely assess the critical elements of their networks and other facilities.

Today’s action establishes a solid foundation for the Commission’s anticipated trials of all-IP service. NENA is pleased that the Commission is moving swiftly to implement IP-transition trials, and looks forward to working with the Commission to ensure that 9-1-1 is available to all consumers during and after the transition to an IP-environment.

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