Today:  FCC Webinar on Disaster Preparedness, FCC Chairman Makes Statement on Hurricane Florence, FCC Activates DIRS in Response to Hurricane Florence 

FCC Webinar on Disaster Preparedness

The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs and Homeland Security Bureaus announced they will hold a webinar on Disaster Preparedness on September 27, 2018.  The free webinar will focus on how the FCC can assist state and local governments to prepare for, respond to, and recover from major incidents that affect communications systems.  Additionally, the webinar will help state and local governments to understand and utilize available resources. The webinar will also give participants an opportunity to ask Commission staff questions.

FCC Chairman Makes Statement on Hurricane Florence

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a statement on Hurricane Florence.

 “As Hurricane Florence approaches the East Coast, the FCC is working to prepare for the storm, coordinating with our federal and state partners and letting them know that we stand ready to work with them and assist in any way we can. At this point, FCC staff have already been deployed to survey the radiofrequency spectrum across critical areas of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, and our Operations Center is open 24 hours a day. Our staff has also reached out to broadcast associations, wireless carriers, and other telecom companies in the areas expected to be hit by Hurricane Florence. We will closely monitor communications outages data in the coming days and work to support restoration and recovery efforts. We also urge residents of the affected areas to charge their wireless phones, laptops, or tablets, sign up to receive emergency alerts and warnings, and follow other communications tips available on the FCC’s website to stay connected with family and friends.”

FCC Activates DIRS in Response to Hurricane Florence

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) of the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) has announced the activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) in response to Hurricane Florence.  States covered under the activation are: Georgia; North Carolina; South Carolina; and Virginia.  DIRS is a voluntary, web-based system that communications providers, including wireless, wireline, broadcast, cable and Voice over Internet Protocol providers, can use to report communications infrastructure status and situational awareness information during times of crisis. 

The Commission requests that communications providers that provide service to any of the listed areas expeditiously submit and update information through DIRS regarding, inter alia, the status of their communications equipment, restoration efforts, and power (i.e., whether they are using commercial power or back-up power).  Communications providers can accomplish this by accessing DIRS at https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster/.  Providers that have not previously done so will be asked to first provide contact information and obtain a User ID when they access DIRS. There is a link on the login page that will allow them to obtain the User ID and password. If a user does not remember his/her password, he/she should use the forgotten password link on the login page. For any problems accessing DIRS, please refer to the contact numbers below. Communications providers are reminded that for providers that participate in DIRS, the separate Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) obligations are suspended for the duration of the DIRS activation with respect to outages in the counties where DIRS has been activated. Reports are requested beginning at 10:00 a.m. on September 13, 2018, and every day after that by 10:00 a.m. until DIRS is deactivated.

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 The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.