Keep Wireless Pact Voluntary? Question Raised at FCC's Hearing

The framework “only activates” when the FCC disaster information reporting system is turned on and when the Federal Emergency Management Agency is called in, said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. “The framework isn’t always operational in response, in particular, to wildfires.” Starks asked if the framework as structured works. Last month, commissioners approved an NPRM on resilient networks, which asked about improvements to framework, launched in 2016 as an alternative to regulation (see 2109300069).

Commissioner Brendan Carr told reporters he hasn’t made a decision whether the framework should remain voluntary: “We need a change from the status quo. There are ways in which we can do a better job when it comes to wireless resiliency, when it comes to roaming arrangements. … The status quo isn’t working.”

The framework was developed in response to Superstorm Sandy, Rosenworcel noted. She asked “how we can improve that framework going forward so that it works more smoothly and service is restored more rapidly.”

“Our mentality around network resilience remains mired in the analog age ,” said Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld. The voluntary framework “makes mutual aid and assistance a matter of last resort,” he said: “The attitude continues to be everyone is on their own. … Changing the current culture from ‘every network for itself’ to ‘we’re all in this together’ will take time. It will take participation by industry and government at all levels.”

Feld called for a mandatory framework, with roaming agreements for all mobile carriers. Doing so is “the most urgent and easiest change, now that we are sunsetting our 3G networks and carriers will use the same standards,” he said. A broader communications framework would work better than a wireless framework, he said. “All of the pieces of our modern communications networks are interrelated with each other,” he said.

Voluntary is working, said CTIA Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Scott Bergmann. “Each disaster is different and requires boots-on-the-ground assessments in challenging conditions,” he said. “The framework provides a meaningful and flexible array of tools to help us coordinate and speed recovery,” he said.

As major storms become more frequent, the wireless industry is making investments in more resilient networks, Bergmann said. “Resiliency by design … includes densifying networks with overlapping cellsites and other upgrades totaling nearly $140 billion over the past five years,” he said. Carriers are prepositioning personnel and deployable equipment ahead of storms, and are coordinating and collaborating “with other communications providers, electric utilities and federal and state emergency managers,” he said. What industry is doing is working and despite the size of Ida more than half of cellsites knocked out were back up in 48 hours, he said. “We continue to draw lessons from each event,” he said.

Ida shows the importance of resilient networks, said Janet Britton, general counsel at Louisiana ISP EATEL. “The building of a more resilient network will need to come later after we tackle the immediate task of restoration,” she said: “We ultimately will need support for building such resilient networks to weather the next storm.” The biggest problem after Ida was “fuel and the access to fuel” even though EATEL had supplier agreements, she said: “That was a real big eye-opener for all of us.”

The chip shortage and supply chain issues complicate rebuilding, Britton said. Prior to Ida, EATEL was already seeing “very long lead times” to install fiber, she said. The company has to compete for supply with all the construction tied to federal funding for broadband, she said. “That’s just real for us that there is a supply chain issue,” she said. The company is still seeing fiber cuts by electric utilities as they restore power, she said. “This is an issue that happens storm after storm and disaster after disaster,” she said.

The most significant natural disasters, including hurricanes and wildfires, occur in remote areas, said Western Fire Chiefs Association CEO Jeff Johnson. “That's the place we’re least likely to have especially reliable broadband coverage and reliable, redundant backup service,” he said. In the West we’re seeing burn overs “which are literally taking out every tower on every mountaintop for 20 miles,” he said. If fiber lines are above ground you’ll lose them to the fire or “utility crews that are cutting the lines to open the roads,” he said.

“We need to do a reassessment” of backup communications equipment that can be “surged” into an area, said Francisco Sanchez, Harris County, Texas, deputy homeland security and emergency management coordinator: Storms “are more catastrophic. They’re more frequent.” Localities need better information-sharing, he said. “We need to change the model of doing business from need to know to need to share.” Electric utilities and cable and telecom providers often consider information “proprietary, and it becomes challenging where we’re trying to get an accurate picture on the ground,” he said.

The biggest problem for broadcasters in Ida was fuel shortages, which made it difficult to get to hard-hit areas, said Polly Johnson, Louisiana Association of Broadcasters president.

Meeting Notebook

Commissioners approved a third round of Connected Care pilot projects to provide remote patient monitoring, diagnostic imaging and video visits to treat maternity patients, mental health, opioid dependency, chronic conditions and infectious diseases. The 36 applications from 26 applicants sought more than $15 million. More than $69.3 million of the $100 million program has been approved. Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis and staff are “aggressively” going through applications for the next round of approvals, Wireline Bureau Chief Kris Monteith told reporters.