California Senators Press for FCC Investigation, Carrier Commitments on First Responders' Access
Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, both D-Calif., asked the FCC Thursday night to investigate whether Verizon's throttling of service to Santa Clara County firefighters during the largest fire in California history (see 1808220059 and 1808240039) violated rules. A probe…
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should center on whether rules requiring ISPs “publicly disclose information about their 'network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms'” of service plans were violated, the senators wrote Chairman Ajit Pai. They pressed Verizon and three other top U.S. wireless carriers for information by Sept. 21 on first responders' data access during emergencies and unlimited data plan policies. The firefighters “may have been told that their plan was ‘unlimited,’ only because they could continue to purchase more data once they hit their data caps,” the senators wrote Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. “While we appreciate that Verizon has made a promise to lift data caps on its public safety customers in the event of a future disaster, we would like to know more about how this came about ... [and] plans to ensure that it won’t happen again.” This is “an opportunity for all service providers to commit to being transparent with public safety customers,” the senators wrote to Sprint CEO Michel Combes, T-Mobile CEO John Legere and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. "We've long been the nation's premier provider of communication services for First responders and the greater public safety community," a Verizon spokesman emailed. "For decades we've been the go to choice for that market and we're highly confident that we will continue to be in the years to come." FirstNet “does not throttle subscribers anywhere,” an AT&T spokesman emailed. “FirstNet gives public safety the capabilities they need with the affordability they require.” Sprint received the letter and intends “to respond as requested,” a spokeswoman said. The FCC and T-Mobile didn't comment Friday.