Better Data, Repair Crew Credentials Top Katrina Panel Recommendations

Members of the Katrina panel’s network resiliency working group, led by CenturyTel Vp-Operations Marion Scott, called for better industry reporting on the health of telecom infrastructure before and after disasters. They also called for a more efficient govt. “repository” for that information -- recommending specifically that emergency-related private network data go to just one agency and be kept confidential. Sprint Dir.-Network Integrity John Thomas, representing panel member Sprint Vp-Network Operations Dave Flessas, said voluntary data reporting on the health of telecom infrastructure was “helpful” last year but could be much better.

Handling of network data “would be most efficient if it were gathered and produced by one government agency,” Thomas said. Reporting to the govt. on network health takes a lot of work, diverting resources from network restoration efforts, Thomas said. It’s important that both industry and govt. are clear on their responsibilities to avoid wasted efforts, he said. “Once industry and government agree on the data set, we need to refrain from supplying additional information and the agencies need to refrain from requesting additional information.” Agencies should also refrain from airing any data they receive, Thomas added: “It’s a matter of homeland security. The information submitted needs to be handled as strictly confidential.”

Panel Chmn. Nancy Victory agreed. She said that if a single agency becomes the repository for telecom network information, “the FCC should help to publicize, both within industry and government -- federal, state and local -- who the agency is.”

Scott said her network resiliency working group’s research “has been technologically agnostic.” The resiliency crew has divided the task among a handful of subcommittees, she said: Reporting for emergency regulatory relief, readiness, infrastructure resiliency, nontraditional technologies as backup and EAS problems. Group members said the network resiliency team is also exploring how to better circulate FCC contact information, figuring out an FCC process to encourage hardening of key facilities, and looking into the feasibility of having hotspot frequency coordinators on emergency sites, particularly along international borders.

The recovery coordination and procedures working group recommended that criteria for designating repair crews as first responders after disaster should be incorporated into broader national, state and local response plans. The subcommittee recommendation doesn’t include discussion of the distinction between a private sector responder and public safety responder, a touchy question (see related story). The subcommittee also recommended national credentialing procedures for repair crews, based on flexible guidelines rather than mandates.

The working group recommended that federal and other response agencies and industry companies coordinate efforts to identify damaged infrastructure with an eye to establishing priorities for repair. Telecom carriers should work with state and local govts. throughout the year on credentialing and other issues before the onslaught of hurricane season, the group said.

The task force is set to recommend that the FCC work with the National Communications Systems (NCS) to “actively and aggressively promote” the Govt. Emergency Telecom Service (GETS) and Wireless Priority Service (WPS), which provide officials access to telecom networks during emergencies. The panel recommended that the FCC reach out to medical responders and trauma centers, which don’t participate much in the programs.

The group also is recommending that the Commission work with the NCS to clarify whether broadcast, satellite and cable repair crews, not just telecom repair crews, are eligible to participate in GETS and WPS. The working group said the Commission should examine the feasibility of giving WPS participants priority access to wireline in addition to wireless networks.

The National Security Telecom Advisory Committee (NSTAC), meanwhile, circulated a letter at the meeting asking President Bush to require federal agencies including the FCC, DoD, FEMA and GSA to “give their full attention” to and comply with an emergency support function (ECF) plan under development by NCS. The group, which directly advises the President, also said it will ask the Communications & Information Technology Sector Coordinating Councils to launch an industry-led task force that will coordinate regional communications in the Gulf Coast area before the 2006 hurricane season.

Separately, NCS’s Capt. Thomas Wetherald highlighted a gap between DoD and civilian agencies, but said progress is being made to bridge it, and the National Guard will continue to play a central role. When DoD arrives on an emergency scene to provide connectivity to civilian agencies and authorities, “it’s a completely different communications problem than interoperability,” said NCS’s Capt. Thomas Wetherald.

DoD equipment uses different spectrum and different channel sizes, and civilian responders don’t have a “DoD switch,” Wetherald said. DoD and other agencies have been hammering out “prescripted mission assignments” since Katrina, Wetherald said: “And I think we've gone a long way toward being able to solve some of these problems through procedural means.” Negotiations between FEMA and the DoD, and between DoD units and civil authorities, should be “settled shortly,” Wetherald said.

Wetherald and DHS’s David Boyd said they see the National Guard continuing to be “the bridge” between the DoD and civilian authorities for a long time to come. “The National Guard as a whole is deploying significantly upgraded communications capacity… that will allow them to use public spectrum as well as interface directly into the PSTN -- if nothing else, they can communicate that way,” said Wetherald.

Boyd said the National Guard is “intensely interested” in how to better address interoperability between military and civilian communication systems. “It will probably be addressed through Title 32 powers,” Boyd said. “DoD equipment tends to be on 5 KHz channel stations. Yours tend to be on 25 and 12 KHz. Those differences aren’t likely to go away, except within the National Guard bureau.”

NCS -- as well as SAFECOM, under the Dept. of Homeland Security, NSTAC and Network Reliability & Interoperability Council -- also testified at the meeting. The presence of all the groups underlined one of the problems the FCC task force faces - differentiating its report from the many others that have looked at communications during after and Katrina.

BellSouth CTO Bill Smith, a member of the task force, said the panel has been helpful in identifying emergency communications problems. “There’s a very good catalog of what the issues are and what needs to be done,” Smith said. “We have a really good understanding now of what the gaps are and why. The real question is how quickly can we close those gaps.”

Smith said many problems won’t be solved by June 1 and the beginning of the 2006 hurricane season. “The question is can we lay out a plan that over time continues to build us toward a more resilient ability to respond,” he said.