Wheeler in Touch With DNI on GLONASS Concerns, He Tells Lawmakers

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler reassured the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee about their concerns about the use of Russia’s GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) to improve 911 location accuracy. They wrote to Wheeler Sept. 18 about concerns from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. “Having reviewed that response and the detailed [classified] analysis provided by the DNI, we write today to ask that the Commission end its consideration of any proposal that would create reliance on the undependable GLONASS system or dependency on any system in the control of the kleptocracy run by Russia's Vladimir Putin,” the lawmakers told Wheeler, warning of possible vulnerabilities. “We urge you to obtain the Director's classified response and ensure that the full Commission is briefed on it and other related classified threat briefings.” Wheeler has “reached out to Director Clapper to get a better understanding of the intelligence community's concerns about the use of GLONASS signals in addition to GPS signals for 911 location purposes,” Wheeler replied in a Nov. 10 letter to subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and ranking member Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., that was released Tuesday. “We will work closely with our federal partners, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Defense, in assessing available technological approaches to improving emergency response efforts.”