NTIA Seeking Changes to Rules for Priority Access Programs

the Department of Homeland Security's Emergency Communications Division (ECD) Wednesday in docket 96-86. The agency requested changes consistent with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018. The edits “make more clear that DHS is responsible for issuing procedures and other technical guidance needed for the day- to-day operation of WPS, while the White House remains responsible for setting the Executive Branch’s overall national security/emergency preparedness policies,” the filing said. In response to industry complaints, NTIA said it changes “references to specific existing technical standards that could have locked service providers into using approved standards that may be replaced or updated in the future.” NTIA also filed a petition at the FCC Wednesday asking the agency to update telecom service priority rules (see 1907170042). TSP authorizes national security and emergency preparedness organizations to receive priority treatment for vital voice and data circuits. “Rules governing TSP were developed in the late 1980s and have not been updated since the program began,” Senior Policy Adviser Shawn Cochran blogged. “While the purpose of TSP remains fundamentally unchanged, the program has needed to evolve to accommodate new technologies as well as meet the increasing communications needs of the national security and emergency preparedness community.” Many of NTIA’s requests “simply seek to align the FCC’s rules with ECD’s practices and capabilities, remove ambiguous language, and include terminology more reflective of today’s telecommunications environment,” Cochran said.