Carr Wants Network Resilience Mandates for Mobile Wireless Providers

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr proposed Monday that wireless carriers be required to participate in the wireless network resiliency cooperative framework rather than a voluntary program, and that roaming arrangements be required before disasters. Carr urged quick action, noting ongoing wildfires and the approach of the Atlantic hurricane season, on an APCO webinar and in a news release.

We shouldn’t “rely, purely, on a voluntary mechanism when it comes to resilient networks,” Carr said. “We should require wireless providers to participate,” he said. Roaming rules should be aimed at making sure more than calls to 911 go through when networks go down, he said.

Carr also proposed expanding the kinds of emergencies that would trigger activation of the framework. Currently, the framework is triggered when both emergency support function (ESF) 2 and the FCC’s disaster information reporting system are activated, he said. “The record supports” triggering the framework when either is activated, or possibly based on state-level determinations, he said. “That will help make sure that it’s effective in more circumstances,” he said. Carr also urged testing requirements. ESF-2 warnings are issued through coordination with other federal agencies.

“I’ve raised and discussed these ideas with all of my FCC colleagues,” Carr said. “There’s a lot of bipartisan support for this.” The FCC didn’t comment Monday.

Wireless carriers fought for a voluntary framework rather than rules. The current framework has been in place since 2016. The FCC sought comment in an NPRM approved 4-0 in September asking how to improve resilience (see 2109300069). Carr said then he was open-minded on mandates.

APCO supports rules, said Jeff Cohen, the group’s chief counsel. “The steps that you just outlined seem like they would go a long way to improving network resiliency, especially in times of emergency,” Cohen told Carr: “Broadening the participants that are cooperating to improve resilience is a good idea.”

Rules would be “very beneficial,” said Jack Varnado, director-Livingston Parish, Louisiana, who also spoke on the webinar. Varnado said testing is especially important and similar to what public safety agencies do with their systems. In his parish, 96.7% of calls to 911 are wireless, he said.

911 officials need better information on the effect on networks of disasters like the deadly tornado that tore through parts of Kansas in late April, said Michele Abbott, communications and training coordinator at the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council. More than 1,000 structures were damaged or destroyed “and with that came numerous technical impacts that we had to overcome,” she said. “We carry these cellphones and these tablets in our hand and we have an expectation of them” working “all the time,” she said.

Some 200 smaller providers are active in Kansas, Abbott said. “For us to be successful, all of them should have the same requirements,” she said.

The Rural Wireless Association “looks forward to working with Commissioner Carr and the FCC to put the necessary rules governing the roaming agreements and roaming testing in place to ensure network resiliency in the aftermath of natural and manmade disasters,” Carri Bennet, RWA counsel, told us Monday.

“The wireless industry is committed to keeping Americans connected during natural disasters and is proud of the success of our voluntarily adopted Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework which enables providers to invest, plan and respond effectively,” emailed Scott Bergmann, CTIA senior vice president-regulatory affairs: “We share the Commission’s interest in safeguarding our networks and are committed to working with them to make sure providers retain the flexibility to address the unique challenges posed by natural disasters.”

CTIA and major carriers defended a voluntary approach, rather than rules, in recent calls with an aide to Carr and FCC Public Safety Bureau staff (see 2204280058). There was widespread disagreement whether rules are needed when the FCC sought comment (see 2201190058).