The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) has issued a Public Notice seeking comment on the Commission’s 911 network reliability rules, including notification to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) of network outages impacting 911 service. The Commission’s current rules require “covered 911 service providers” to: (1) take “reasonable measures” to ensure 911 circuit diversity, availability of central office backup power, and diverse network monitoring; (2) certify annually to their performance of these measures, or to alternative measures demonstrated to be reasonably sufficient to mitigate the risk of failure; and (3) notify PSAPs of outages that potentially affect them. The Bureau invites input on the effectiveness of these provisions in practice and whether these provisions should be modified to adapt to advancements in technology or other changes. Comments in response to the Public Notice are due by July 16, 2018, and replies are due by August 13, 2018.
