Carriers, APCO Disagree on Reporting Rules for New Mandatory Disaster Response Initiative
APCO urged the FCC to ask for a substantial amount of data from carriers in its reporting forms for the new mandatory disaster response initiative (MDRI). CTIA counseled flexibility and the need to keep data confidential. CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association also petitioned the FCC for partial reconsideration of the FCC’s MDRI order and additional clarity (see 2207070060).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The FCC created the initiative in July, replacing the industry’s wireless voluntary network resiliency cooperative framework. Commissioners also approved a Further NPRM seeking comment on the form carriers will use to report compliance. Comments were due Monday in docket 21-346.
“Mandatory use of a standardized form will facilitate efficient review and increase the usefulness of the reports,” APCO said. The reports “should include whether a provider roamed, the providers it roamed with, the time period involved, and, if relevant, the time it took for a provider to perform a health assessment and activate roaming,” the group said. APCO also urged the FCC to ask other questions, including the specific reasons given when a request for roaming is denied, and why in some cases roaming wasn’t requested. APCO said information filed should be publicly available.
Hurricane Ian was “the latest disaster event that demonstrates the value of investment, preparation, and collaboration through the Wireless Resiliency Cooperative Framework, upon which the new MDRI obligations are built,” CTIA said. “As the effects of climate change are felt across the nation’s infrastructure, wireless providers will continue to build on lessons learned from previous events and prepare for future events,” the group said. CTIA said FCC reporting requirements should be “tailored and flexible” and modeled on what’s already filed through the FCC’s disaster information reporting system.
CTIA said filings should be confidential, in keeping with past practice. “The Commission has long recognized the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of information contained in the mandatory Network Outage Reporting System and voluntary DIRS reports,” the group said: “In fact, the Commission treats all reports submitted under Part 4 of the Commission’s rules as presumptively confidential.”
The CTIA/CCA petition seeks a list of potential facilities-based providers to which the MDRI may apply and asks for time to comply. “Provide sufficient time for wireless providers -- at least 12 months for non-small facilities-based mobile wireless providers and 18 months for small facilities-based mobile wireless providers -- to achieve compliance with the new obligations,” the petition urges.
The wireless groups ask the FCC to “align the definitions of ‘non-small facilities-based’ and ‘small facilities-based’ wireless providers with the FCC’s existing definitions of ‘nationwide’ and ‘nonnationwide’ wireless providers applied in the 9-1-1 context.” The FCC should also establish a process for notifying providers MDRI is active and “affirm that Office of Management and Budget review is required for all information collection obligations and that the Commission will treat [roaming under disaster] arrangements provided … as presumptively confidential.”