Wireless Resiliency Framework Worked Well During Hurricanes, Carriers Tell FCC
Carriers said a wireless resiliency cooperative framework promoted industry efforts to maintain and restore service affected by recent hurricanes. They said their networks generally held up, with disruptions often due to power outages and fiber cuts by others. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Southern Linc, U.S. Cellular and GCI Communications responded to recent FCC Public Safety Bureau queries seeking information on their implementation of the framework and best practices during disasters (see 1811060052). Filings were posted Tuesday in docket 11-60. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and Southern Linc redacted various details.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
AT&T said the 2016 framework was "thoroughly tested" by "devastating natural disasters" over the past two years, and performed "well." Hurricane Maria, which hammered Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands in 2017, "was the most demanding test" but produced "extensive coordination, mutual aid, and roaming" among providers, wrote Joseph Marx, assistant vice president, in a cover letter to AT&T's response, the lengthiest filed. Florida officials recognized AT&T "for its immediate responsiveness" in coordinating and restoring service after Michael in October, and it had "similar results in North Carolina" after Florence in September, Marx said. "AT&T’s wireless network has proven remarkably resilient."
Verizon called the framework an "important component" of network restoration. "Verizon's focus on network resiliency and recovery and reliance on the Framework has helped minimize customer disruption even in the face of historic storms and disasters," it responded. It cited relatively few cellsite service outages from 2017's Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, and quick recoveries in "nearly all" counties in Alabama, Florida and Georgia hit by Irma, which also pounded Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. "The magnitude of the destruction of Hurricane Maria to network and infrastructure needed to restore service illustrated for Verizon the potential benefits of mutual aid."
"We faced the most difficult challenges" in Florida counties hit hardest by Michael, "as many large sections of fiber infrastructure were destroyed," Verizon said. "Difficulties in restoring and maintaining the fiber used for backhaul in the area extended the duration of the outages by several days. ... Michael showed that other stakeholders' restoration efforts can overwhelm even highly redundant fiber and aggressive 24/7 repair efforts, particularly when there were numerous and repeated cuts made to our fiber network even after we restored it."
The framework "works well, has proven effective in ensuring network resiliency, and has facilitated service restoration," responded T-Mobile. It said the framework "has been extremely successful due to its flexibility," allowing carriers "to effectively and dynamically allocate resources." Wireless networks often "suffer outages due to the limited availability of commercial power and/or failures in third-party backhaul networks, rather than a failure of the wireless networks," said Steve Sharkey, vice president-government affairs, technology and engineering policy. "Recovery efforts would be significantly enhanced by taking steps to increase coordination among all stakeholders," he said, "to improve information exchanges" post-disaster.
Sprint said the framework "has proven effective as wireless carriers work together" to seek to "ensure networks and services are available and operational during emergencies." Sprint said roaming agreements worked as planned, and it generally wasn't aware of carriers declining a request for roaming or mutual aid. "CTIA Best Practices serve as flexible tools carriers and local governments can utilize to coordinate joint efforts to maintain service continuity, promote resiliency efforts, and expedite restoration activities," wrote Charles McKee, Sprint vice president-government affairs.
"Southern Linc's network proved to be resilient" and "was restored as soon as possible" after Irma, Nate (in Alabama and Mississippi in 2017), Florence and Michael, it responded. Noting it's transitioning from iDEN to LTE technology, the company said it's unaware of any other U.S. carriers employing iDEN "or that could roam onto our iDEN network." U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile "agreed to operationalize unrestricted roaming" between their customers in the region affected by Florence, the only hurricane hitting U.S. Cellular, wrote Grant Spellmeyer, vice president-federal affairs and public policy. GCI hasn't experienced a declared disaster in Alaska activating the disaster information reporting system, but cooperates with airlines to fly repair crews to areas hit by ice storms, has roaming agreements with the four national carriers and engages in backhaul and transport "mutual aid," responded Kara Leibin Azocar, regulatory counsel-federal affairs.