Better Treatment, Coordination of Telecom Service in Disasters Urged at FCBA Meeting
Communications should be treated as critical infrastructure and security access should be allowed during disasters and emergencies, citing lessons learned from disasters like the Haiti earthquake, speakers said during a Federal Communications Bar Association panel. Ken Moran, senior deputy chief of the FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, identified the National Response Framework as the legal framework for all levels of domestic incident response.
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Government agencies should incorporate telecom providers into federal response policies and give them the proper credentialing to allow priority access into disaster sites, said CTIA Vice President Christopher Guttman-McCabe at the meeting, hosted by the FCBA Homeland Security and Emergency Communications Committee late Thursday. On a macro level, there isn’t a recognition that telecom is critical infrastructure, he said. Additionally, government officials have to take the physicians’ model of “do no harm,” he said. “The desire to help at times may cause problems,” he said, citing potential interference due to wireless systems brought in by foreign governments during emergencies. If the government can’t provide security to communications providers, it should allow them to have their own private security, he said.
Credentialing is more of a local issue, said Moran, and that’s why “we need to work closely with state and local agencies on a regular basis.” It’s important to have a defined radio frequency environment during disasters because in a devastated area it’s highly likely that the first line of communications will be wireless, said Jim Bugel, a vice president with AT&T. One of the top reasons for deployment of Project Roll Call, a joint effort by the FCC and Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS/FEMA), is to understand and evaluate the spectrum environment following major disasters, he said. Over a four-hour period, Project Roll Call scans the spectrum and provides operational status reports of data collection on Public Safety Land Mobile Radio, state and local government emergency command and control, commercial wireless and broadcast.
The National Response Framework’s coordinating structures are always in effect for implementation at any level and at any time for local, state and national emergency or disaster response, Moran said. The framework is being reviewed all the time for potential modifications, he said. The FCC, through partnership with Homeland Security, is involved in Emergency Support Function Two (ESF2), which is part of the framework, he said. ESF2 addresses cybersecurity issues that result from or occur in conjunction with incidents, Moran said. But “they are not that mature,” he acknowledged. “We don’t have that many operating procedures on what exactly we should do during a cyber event. … So it’s a work in progress,” he said. The FCC and other government agencies are looking at cybersecurity issues to better respond to cyber incidents, he said.
USTelecom Vice President Robert Mayer noted the role of National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the President about assuring telecom links in a crisis, he said. Additionally, “we are very much involved right now in cybersecurity,” he said. Telecom carriers, content providers and vendors are working on existing cyber threats, he said. He noted the Department of Homeland Security’s close collaboration with the private sector on protection of critical infrastructure and cyber networks, including the current development of a National Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan. Cybersecurity crosses all boundaries so all players of the ecosystem have to work together, he said.
On the international level, policies and regulations need to be in place to allow for the timely use of the most appropriate technology in disaster-stricken areas, said Gonzalo de Dios, assistant general counsel at Intelsat. He urged including satellite communications as countries develop national emergency telecom plans. In the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, representatives of foreign telecom operators were standing outside the borders of Haiti with Inmarsat handheld terminals but had to wait for days to obtain an authorization to bring the equipment into the country, he said. Meanwhile, there are many fixed, mobile and broadcasting satellite service networks that are capable of providing support for disaster relief on a global basis and those frequencies need to be taken into account, he said. As part of developing a disaster communications policy in advance, countries should consider their existing regulatory frameworks and whether alterations are needed to ensure timely deployment of satellite services, he said.
"We need to draw on civilian support,” said Joe Gattuso, senior policy advisor at NTIA’s Office of Policy Analysis and Development. He cited the Civilian Response Corps, which offers a pool of trained and ready-to-deploy civilian professionals, to support overseas reconstruction and stabilization operations. The Civilian Response Corps is a partnership of eight departments and agencies including the Department of Commerce, he said. “You plan for the worst,” said Ann Bobeck, a senior vice president with NAB. She emphasized human capital planning in disaster preparedness.