Ariz. Commissioners Consider Options After Frontier 911 Outage
Arizona Corporation Commission members raised questions Tuesday about Frontier Communications’ urgency in responding to a June 11 fiber cut and other network outages. Frontier officials at the livestreamed ACC meeting defended the company’s speed responding to the June 11 outage, which the company blamed on gunshots by a possible saboteur (see 2206270029). Commissioners and local officials want more network redundancy to prevent future problems.
All five members supported a proposal by ACC Chairwoman Lea Marquez Peterson (R) to direct staff to find a date for an emergency town hall in St. Johns, Arizona, which was affected by this month’s outage. Four commissioners supported filing an order to show cause for a vote at a future meeting, but Commissioner Jim O’Connor (R) voiced doubts that an OSC would be efficient or effective. He agreed with ACC Utilities Director Elijah Abinah, who said it might be better to focus on ways to enhance network redundancy. Commissioners went into a closed executive session to discuss legal options. They didn’t return by our deadline.
"The sense of emergency is something that I think we're all questioning as commissioners,” Peterson said earlier in the meeting. She and other commissioners want a more detailed, hourly account from Frontier about how it responded to the June 11 incident. Also, Peterson questioned how well Frontier is using $700,000 yearly in state USF funds for resiliency enhancements.
Local officials say Frontier didn’t act with urgency to resolve a fiber cut earlier this month, said Commissioner Sandra Kennedy (D). She demanded an hour-by-hour account of Frontier’s response. Frontier received millions of dollars in state support, she said. "We don't know what they've done with it. … Where has all this money gone to?"
Commissioner Justin Olson (R) has heard “immense” frustration from constituents about Frontier outages, he said. “It's clear that they are not pleased with the lapses in service that have occurred.” Commissioner Anna Tovar (D) said she shared other commissioners’ concerns and agreed more detailed information is needed. “We’re going to be here again and again and again if this issue is not addressed.”
Frontier takes providing 911 and other services seriously, said Frontier General Counsel Kevin Saville. It reported the shotgun-caused fiber cuts to the Department of Homeland Security, he said. "This was at a minimum vandalism and even potentially sabotage." Saville disagreed the company isn’t responsive. Frontier did everything it could to resolve this month’s outage, but it’s tough to fix such problems quickly, he said.
Frontier doesn’t have redundancy across its entire Arizona network but neither does any other company, and the FCC doesn’t require that, said Saville. "We don't have basically two interstate highways running next to each other across our entire network.” Redundancy isn’t cheap, said Frontier Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Jack Phillips. "This area is served by fiber," but "to duplicate that cost is quite expensive."
“This is something that needs to be paid attention to,” said St. Johns Mayor Spence Udall. The St. Johns fire department’s dispatching system was out for nearly 48 hours, Assistant Fire Chief Jason Kirk said. A person died in St. Johns after not being able to reach 911, said Police Chief Lance Spivey. "It's a health, safety and welfare issue that [Frontier is] not willing to address.”