Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to review and modernize the agency’s network outage reporting rules, its Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework, and its strategies for keeping networks running during power outages. Public Knowledge applauds the agency for moving to strengthen America’s communications networks so that they function when we need them most.
The following can be attributed to Jenna Leventoff, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:
“Unfortunately, during the times when they are needed most, our nation’s networks are unreliable, preventing consumers from reaching first responders, finding their way out of an evacuated area, or calling loved ones to make sure they are safe. And even on “sunny days” our networks can go down. For years, Public Knowledge has called for policy changes, such as on-site backup power requirements, mandatory emergency sharing and roaming agreements, as well as improved data collection, to make our nation’s networks more resilient. We are glad that the Federal Communications Commission has opened this important proceeding and look forward to submitting comments.
You may view our recent blog post, “The California Wildfires Show Why We Need a National Backup Power Mandate to Keep Americans Connected During Disasters,” to learn more about the importance of resilient networks.
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.