Outage Rules Could Get a Few Tweaks

With an FCC commissioner vote scheduled for Thursday on improving the delivery of outage information to public safety answering points (see 2210270067), a few tweaks remain possible to the FCC’s approach, industry officials said. The 10th floor is still considering filings made at the end of last week seeking a few changes to the draft order, officials said. APCO filed late last week and other filings were expected (see 2211100051).

ATIS, the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA and USTelecom sought clarification that the rules wouldn’t be retroactive, in a filing posted Monday in docket 04-35. The groups reported on a virtual meeting with Public Safety Bureau staff. “The Draft Order represents a significant change in the Commission’s Part 4 rules and policies and contains some ambiguity as to the application of these new rules,” the groups said: “The Associations urged the Commission to clarify that the new requirements in the Draft Order will not be applied retroactively.”

The groups also urged the FCC to make clear that the 30-minute deadline for notifying PSAPs of an outage “will be applied with reasonable flexibility so that OSPs [originating service providers] can provide as much actionable information as possible to affected PSAPs with the initial notification.” The commission should provide “sufficient time for OSPs and PSAPs to make the technical and operational changes that will be necessary to achieve the goals of the Draft Order,” the groups said. The filing said a requirement that OSPs maintain PSAP contact information on an individual basis could be met more efficiently and effectively if the FCC establishes a centralized database, they said.

CTIA and major national carriers also weighed in, urging the FCC to clarify that the rules won’t be retroactive and don't extend to general outages. Carriers spoke with Public Safety Bureau staff and staff from the Office of General Counsel. “If OSPs’ current obligations to notify PSAPs were not limited to outages affecting 9-1-1 special facilities but also applied to general network outages, then there would have been no reason for the Commission to make distinctions in its rules and Orders between outages that affect all calls and those that affect a 9-1-1 special facility, or in fact to adopt the Draft Order,” carriers said.

Carriers also stressed the FCC can't legally make the rules retroactive. “Even if the Commission adopts the Draft Order as proposed, it should clarify that it will not retroactively enforce the new rules against OSPs,” they said: “Due process prohibits the Commission from penalizing companies for violating purported obligations that were not clear to them.”

Lumen told the FCC it supports the arguments made by ATIS, CCA and other groups. Wireline providers face special challenges from the 30-minute filing requirement, Lumen said: “This is a very challenging metric for wireline service providers to meet, but extraordinarily so for VoIP providers given the non-fixed nature of the service.”