Frontier Communications will spend at least $25 million in each of the next three years in Ohio under a settlement agreement approved Wednesday by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. If Frontier doesn’t meet certain quarterly metrics for two consecutive quarters, it agreed to commit an extra $150,000 each year. The carrier agreed to give bill credits to customers when service isn’t restored within 72 hours, review its outage restoration process and make plans to reduce 911 outages and educate consumers. Frontier worked with PUCO staff and the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel “to reach an agreement that resolves the proceeding and will provide network and service quality improvements to our telephone customers in Ohio,” said Frontier Senior Vice President-Federal Government Affairs Ken Mason.
Miscommunication appeared to cause more 911 dispatching issues this week in Washington, D.C., by the Office of Unified Communications (OUC). An ambulance, with a patient inside, called for help Monday after getting hit by a vehicle chased by police in Southeast Washington, according to OpenMHz audio of radio transmissions flagged by former reporter Dave Statter. The D.C. dispatcher appeared to become confused which ambulance had sought help, and at first sent responders to a different one located in the city’s Northeast quadrant. A day earlier, responding to three men who fell overboard from a power boat, D.C. dispatchers sent help to the wrong marina, about five miles away, tweeted Statter with audio from that incident. The three men drowned, said a Washington Post report. OUC declined comment Tuesday. The Office of D.C. Auditor might probe OUC next year after many reports of dispatching issues including sending first responders to the wrong address or multiple responders to the same place (see 2008070042).
Out-of-service Connecticut cell sites declined to 1.6% Monday, after Tropical Storm Isaias caused outages, the FCC said in a disaster information reporting system (DIRS) status report. It was down from 3.6% in Sunday’s update and 7% Saturday. Transport network issues and power outages were mostly to blame. Cable and wireline companies reported about 70,000 subscribers out of service Monday, down from 121,000 subscribers Sunday and about 257,000 Saturday. There were no broadcast or 911 outage reports on any of the three days after the Public Safety Bureau activated DIRS Friday. The FCC is requiring reports about all Connecticut counties daily at 10 a.m. Bureaus released procedures and contact information. The FCC didn't activate DIRS for other states hit by Isaias. An agency spokesperson said government partners requested the agency activate DIRS for hard-hit Connecticut.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announces changes in his office (see also this section, Aug. 7 issue): Sean Spivey joins from Wireless Bureau as wireless and international adviser, replacing Aaron Goldberger, returning to the bureau; Allison Baker named economic adviser, comes from Wireline Bureau; chairman’s Rural Broadband Adviser Preston Wise expands role to wireline adviser, replacing Nirali Patel, going back to Wireline Bureau; and Melissa Kirkel, who has been on detail as special counsel-wireline, returns to the bureau ... Arnold & Porter hires Jessica Monahan from National Association of Counties as policy adviser; she has worked on transportation and technology ... Scanlon Rabinowitz adds Roy Shulman, ex-Prudential Financial, as special counsel focusing on technology, contract and intellectual property law.
Responding to a spate of reported 911 dispatching issues, a Washington, D.C., auditor might conduct a long-awaited probe of the Office of Unified Communications next year. Alleged OUC incidents -- including sending first responders to the wrong address or multiple responders to the same place -- could show a systemic problem, said a neighborhood commissioner and firefighter union president in interviews last week.
The FCC approved rules for a C-band auction starting Dec. 8 as circulated, with the general approval of all five commissioners (see 2007280063). Jessica Rosenworcel partially dissented because of concerns about the approach on the C band approved 3-2 in February (see 2002280044). Geoffrey Starks also partially dissented, saying his earlier concerns remain. Chairman Ajit Pai announced the agency plans the next mid-band auction, of 2.5 GHz spectrum, in the first half of next year (see 2008060017).
The FCC won’t give broadband providers 90 more days to file annual 911 reliability certification. The online portal for receiving such filings is open, the Public Safety Bureau announced. The bureau denied waiver to USTelecom, which said COVID-19 is reason to delay the Oct. 15 deadline. The association “fails to state with sufficient particularity who needs relief from the Commission’s rule and why they need such relief,” the bureau said. “If USTelecom seeks an industry-wide or membership-wide waiver, the Waiver Request fails to establish that such broad relief is warranted.” The group didn’t comment Friday, the day the items were posted in the Daily Digest.
While the FCC eyes sticking with telework at least through next June (see 2007240053), many law firms with communications practices tell us they're taking a wait-and-see stance with the pandemic, with no time frame for returning to their facilities. Others have tentative dates in mind for reopening or have partially reopened. Many see increased telework as the norm post-pandemic.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau should revise its proposed process for carrier interactions with the network outage reporting system and the 911 reliability certification system, said comments posted through Tuesday in docket 15-80. USTelecom asked to reconfigure the sequence of questions posed about whether carriers notified public safety answering points. AT&T said the proposals require carriers to send too much new information within 120 minutes. In the early minutes after discovery, "service providers are focused on restoring service and notifying PSAPs," AT&T said. NCTA wants the bureau to consider how providers would have to automate any newly required data fields, asking to "allow providers to continue using automation to the extent possible." CenturyLink said the public notice's proposal to identify alternatives shouldn't be adopted because "NORS already collects information about whether diversity could have mitigated an event." The National Association of State 911 Administrators said telling state and local governments which 911 call centers are affected by an outage "would greatly assist in determining the impact on emergency operations." ATIS said its Network Reliability Steering Committee is concerned that outage data shared with state agencies may be used for other purposes.
Wireless carriers must have 72 hours backup power at many California cellsites to maintain coverage during wildfires and public safety power shutoffs, the California Public Utilities Commission decided unanimously Thursday. Also at the livestreamed virtual meeting, commissioners all supported a utility affordability order that defines essential internet service as a fixed service providing 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds, plus 1 terabyte of data.