FEDERAL COMMUN ICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE CHAIR M AN The Honorable Jeam1e Shaheen United States Senate 520 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Shaheen: March 17, 2015 Thank you for your letter expressing concern about the recent service outages that have impacted the Vermont E911 system and public safety agencies in both Vermont and New Hampshire. My staff and I have been closely monitoring the situation, and we will not hesitate to act to ensure that emergency communications networks in Vermont and New Hampshire maintain the level of reliability and resiliency that citizens expect and deserve. I share your desire to ensure that American's phone calls to E911 are delivered during emergencies. It is one of the Commission's primary responsibilities, and improving the reliability and resiliency of our 911 infrastructure has been one of my top priorities since I joined the Commission As you note, the Commission recently has been focused on improving E911 communications networks nationwide by requiring E911 service providers to take reasonable measures to provide reliable and resilient E911 service. One of the first rules we adopted when I joined the Commission requires service providers to certify annually that they have implemented industry-backed best practices or reasonable alternative measures that are sufficient in light of their particular circumstances. These best practices cover three core areas: auditing 911 circuits for physical diversity, maintaining central office backup power, and maintaining reliable and resilient network monitoring systems. In addition, the Commission amended its rules to give E911 service providers deadlines and other more specific requirements for notifying E911 call centers of outages. The Commission also has required providers of voice communications to repmt major disruptions to communications by submitting infmmation in the Commission's Network Outage Repotting System (NORS). If we see evidence that these best practices are not being followed in a particular circumstance, the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) may follow up with service providers to address deficiencies revealed by the certification process. For example, PSHSB analyzes outage infonnation submitted via NORTS and works closely with individual providers regarding specific outages. The Bureau also works with the industry in general on outage trends and possible industry-wide problems in order to improve the reliability ofE911 and NG911. Consistent with our rules and past practice, PSHSB has held several discussions with Fairpoint about the large November 28111 outage, including Fairpoint's efforts to restore service, and we will continue to monitor the situation. Page 2-The Honorable Jeanne Shaheen I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Tom Wheeler FEDER A L CO MM U N ICATIONS CO MM ISS ION WASHINGTON OFFIC E O F TH E CHAIRMAN The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy United States Senate 433 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Leahy: March 17, 2015 Thank you for your letter expressing concern about the recent service outages that have impacted the Vermont E911 system and public safety agencies in both Vermont and New Hampshire. My staff and I have been closely monitoring the situation, and we will not hesitate to act to ensure that emergency communications networks in Vern1ont and New Han1pshire maintain the level of reliability and resiliency that citizens expect and deserve. I share your desire to ensure that American ' s phone calls to E911 are delivered during emergencies. It is one of the Commission' s primary responsibilities, and improving the reliability and resiliency of our 911 infrastructure has been one of my top priorities since I joined the Commission As you note, the Commission recently has been focused on improving E911 commtmications networks nationwide by requiring E911 service providers to take reasonable measmes to provide reliable and resilient E911 service. One of the first rules we adopted when I joined the Commission requires service providers to certify armually that they have implemented industry-backed best practices or reasonable alternative measures that are sufficient in light of their particular circumstances. These best practices cover three core areas: auditing 911 circuits for physical diversity, maintaining central office backup power, and maintaining reliable and resilient network monitoring systems. In addition, the Commission amended its rules to give E911 service providers deadlines and other more specific requirements for notifying E911 call centers of outages. The Commission also has required providers of voice communications to report major disruptions to communications by submitting information in the Commission' s Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). If we see evidence that these best practices are not being followed in a particular circumstance, the FCC 's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) may follow up with service providers to address deficiencies revealed by the certification process. For example, PSHSB analyzes outage inforn1ation submitted via NORTS and works closely with individual providers regarding specific outages. The Bureau also works with the industry in general on outage trends and possible industry-wide problems in order to improve the reliability ofE911 and NG911. Consistent with our rules and past practice, PSHSB has held several discussions with Fairpoint about the large November 28th outage, including Fairpoint's efforts to restore service, and we will continue to monitor the situation. Page 2-The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Tom Wheeler FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN The Honorable Bemard Sanders United States Senate 332 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Sanders: March 17, 2015 Thank you for your letter expressing concem about the recent service outages that have impacted the Vem1ont E911 system and public safety agencies in both Vermont and New Han1pshire. My staff and I have been closely monitoring the situation, and we will not hesitate to act to ensure that emergency communications networks in Vermont and New Hampshire maintain the level of reliability and resiliency that citizens expect and deserve. I share your desire to ensure that American's phone calls to E911 are delivered during emergencies. It is one of the Commission' s primary responsibilities, and improving the reliability and resiliency of our 911 infrastructure has been one of my top priorities since I joined the Commission As you note, the Commission recently has been focused on improving E911 communications networks nationwide by requiring E911 service providers to take reasonable measures to provide reliable and resilient E911 service. One of the first rules we adopted when I joined the Commission requires service providers to certify annually that they have implemented industry-backed best practices or reasonable alternative measures that are sufficient in light of their particular circumstances. These best practices cover three core areas: auditing 911 circuits for physical diversity, maintaining central office backup power, and maintaining reliable and resilient network monitoring systems. In addition, the Commission amended its rules to give E911 service providers deadlines and other more specific requirements for notifying E911 call centers of outages. The Commission also has required providers of voice communications to repmt major disruptions to communications by submitting information in the Commission's Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). If we see evidence that these best practices are not being followed in a patticular circumstance, the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) may follow up with service providers to address deficiencies revealed by the certification process. For example, PSHSB analyzes outage information submitted via NORIS and works closely with individual providers regarding specific outages. The Bureau also works with the industry in general on outage trends and possible industry-wide problems in order to improve the reliability of£911 and NG911 . Consistent with our rules and past practice, PSHSB has held several discussions with Fairpoint about the large November 28111 outage,including Fairpoint's effmts to restore service, and we will continue to monitor the situation. Page 2-The Honorable Bernard Sanders I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. __ sincerely, ~~ biPIIfi- Tom Wheeler FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION W ASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN The Honorable Ann McLane Kuster U.S. House of Representatives 137 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Congresswoman Kuster: March 17, 2015 Thank you for your letter expressing concern about the recent service outages that have impacted the Vermont E911 system and public safety agencies in both Vennont and New Han1pshire. My staff and I have been closely monitoring the situation, and we will not hesitate to act to ensure that emergency communications networks in Vermont and New Hampshire maintain the level of reliability and resiliency that citizens expect and deserve. I share your desire to ensure that American's phone calls to E911 are delivered during emergencies. It is one of the Commission's primary responsibilities, and improving the reliability and resiliency of our 911 infrastructure has been one of my top priorities since I joined the Commission As you note, the Commission recently has been focused on improving E911 communications networks nationwide by requiring E911 service providers to take reasonable measures to provide reliable and resilient E911 service. One of the first rules we adopted when I joined the Commission requires service providers to certify annually that they have implemented industry-backed best practices or reasonable alternative measures that are sufficient in light of their particular circumstances. These best practices cover three core areas: auditing 911 circuits for physical diversity, ni.aintaining central office backup power, and maintaining reliable and resilient network monitoring systems. In addition, the Commission amended its rules to give E911 service providers deadlines and other more specific requirements for notifying E911 call centers of outages. The Commission also has required providers of voice communications to report major disruptions to communications by submitting information in the Commission's Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). If we see evidence that these best practices are not being followed in a particular circumstance, the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) may follow up with service providers to address deficiencies revealed by the certification process. For example, PSHSB analyzes outage information submitted via NORTS and works closely with individual providers regarding specific outages. The Bureau also works with the industry in general on outage trends and possible industry-wide problems in order to improve the reliability ofE911 and NG911. Consistent with our rules and past practice, PSHSB has held several discussions with Fairpoint about the large November 28th outage, including Fairpoint's efforts to restore service, and we will continue to monitor the situation. Page 2-The Honorable Ann McLane Kuster I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know ifl can be of any further assistance. Tom Wheeler FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE C H AIRMAN The Honorable Peter Welch U.S. House of Representatives 2303 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Congressman Welch: March 17, 2015 Thank you for your letter expressing concern about the recent service outages that have impacted the Vennont E911 system and public safety agencies in both Vermont and New Hampshire. My staff and I have been closely monitoring the situation, and we will not hesitate to act to ensure that emergency communications networks in Vermont and New Hampshire maintain the level of reliability and resiliency that citizens expect and deserve. I share your desire to ensure that American' s phone calls to E911 are delivered during emergencies. It is one of the Commission's primary responsibilities, and improving the reliability and resiliency of our 911 infrastructure has been one of my top priorities since I joined the Commission As you note, the Commission recently has been focused on improving E911 communications networks nationwide by requiring E911 service providers to take reasonable measmes to .provide reliable and resilient E911 service. One of the first rules we adopted when I joined the Commission requires service providers to ce1tify annually that they have implemented industry-backed best practices or reasonable alternative measmes that are sufficient in light of their particular circumstances. These best practices cover three core areas: auditing 911 circuits for physical diversity, maintaining central office backup power, and maintaining reliable and resilient network monitoring systems. In addition, the Commission amended its rules to give E911 service providers deadlines and other more specific requirements for notifying E911 call centers of outages. The Commission also has required providers of voice communications to report major disruptions to communications by submitting information in the Commission's Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). If we see evidence that these best practices are not being followed in a particular circumstance, the FCC' s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) may follow up with service providers to address deficiencies revealed by the certification process. For example, PSHSB analyzes outage information submitted via NORTS and works closely with individual providers regarding specific outages. The Bureau also works with the industry in general on outage trends and possible industry-wide problems in order to improve the reliability ofE911 and NG911. Consistent with our rules and past practice, PSHSB has held several discussions with Fairpoint about the large November 28th outage, including Fairpoint's efforts to restore service, and we will continue to monitor the situation. Page 2-The Honorable Peter Welch I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know ifl can be of any further assistance. Sincerely,