The Virginia State Corporation Commission recommended imposing certain testing and maintenance rules...

Safety Bureau also investigated. The bureau made similar recommendations regarding backup power last week, prefacing a pending FCC notice of proposed rulemaking (CD Jan 11 p3). “Ensuring that testing and maintenance is performed properly and timely in all of Verizon’s offices should go a long way in preventing a similar 911 outage as the one following the June 29 Derecho,” the Virginia report said. The FCC and the Virginia commission seem to be in “lock step,” Telecom Director William Irby told us last week. Verizon will “closely review” the report and recommendations, said Kyle Malady, senior vice president-global network operations and engineering, in a statement. “And we will continue to work daily to improve our network’s resiliency, apply lessons learned and collaborate with the public safety community -- as well as local, state and federal government officials.” He defended the telco’s progress and cited its performance during last fall’s Superstorm Sandy. Virginia staff “applauds” Verizon’s post-derecho actions but recommend monitoring and evaluating the telco’s actions going forward, potentially for one to three years, “to ensure that Verizon continues to undertake the necessary corrective action.” The report said Verizon allowed equipment and facilities “to deteriorate,” which contributed to generator failures and subsequent 911 outages, and recommended that Verizon attend to not only its critical 911 facilities but all offices throughout Virginia. “The audits for the 911 mission-critical offices in Virginia identified hundreds of abnormalities,” both minor and critical, the Virginia commission found. The commission recommends the investigatory docket remain open, that Verizon file quarterly reports on its progress, that Verizon fix all problems found in its power audits and meet with all 911 centers actively. The telco should plan to conduct power, mechanical and HVAC audits of all Virginia offices by the end of Q1 2013 and “at a minimum, batteries should be inspected and tested in all Virginia locations by the end of 2Q 2013,” it said. Commission staff should assemble and file annual reports on these issues, it said. Verizon had met with and provided staff with hundreds of documents, the report added. Despite changes away from copper, a telecom system’s integrity still depends on functioning offices and 911 “regardless of technology,” the report said, citing VoIP, wireless and FIOS.