How Well Did Wireless Carriers Respond to Natural Disasters? The FCC Wants to Know.
Dave Mullins looks out over the damage in front of his home, seen in background left, where he rode out hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. David Goldman/AP
The agency hopes to measure how well they will respond to the next crisis.
Numerous natural disasters have had a dramatic impact on the U.S. this year, including Hurricanes Florence and Michael.
How are wireless networks coping with the aftermath and will they prepare for the next emergency? That's what the Federal Communications Commission wants to know.
The FCC announced Tuesday that it is launching a review of the Wireless Resiliency Cooperative Framework.
The framework, first approved in 2016, was a voluntary pledge of collaboration to work together during major disasters in order to maintain service and speed up the recovery process. FCC will be sending letters to all the major carriers in the framework, including Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, asking each to explain how they followed best practices and applied the framework during emergency situations in the past two years.
“We are re-examining the last Administration’s framework to make sure all wireless carriers are meeting communities’ needs and doing everything they can to promptly restore service after a natural disaster," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a press release.
The wireless carriers have until Nov. 26 to file their responses to the FCC.