By Deborah Bea, Telecommunications Service Priority Program Manager
Natural disasters, such as floods, fires, earthquakes, tornados, and hurricanes, affect thousands of people every year. A single hurricane can cause catastrophic damage to coastline and points inland, including extensive damage to wired lines and circuits supporting continuity communications. Effective continuity planning and programs, such as the Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) Program, can help organizations take effective steps to protect mission-critical circuits before disasters and aid in recovery after an event. In telecommunications, a circuit is a complete path between two or more points, over which one-way or two-way communications may be provided. Circuits are used to support telephone, data, internet services, networks, radios, microwave transmissions, fiber optics, and satellites. In 2012, TSP helped install over 200 emergency circuits for more than ten organizations, including 9-1-1 call centers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Red Cross. These circuits helped support disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Sandy.
The TSP program authorizes public safety and National Security and Emergency Preparedness organizations to receive priority restoration and installation of vital voice and data circuits and other telecommunications services that may be damaged as a result of natural or man-made disasters. TSP enables telecommunications carriers to prioritize the restoration, recovery, and installation of critical circuits in the event of a disaster or threat to the security of the U.S. The large number of calls to 9-1-1 call centers during emergencies increases the necessity of call center continuity. Securing TSP on all mission critical circuits, including 9-1-1 call centers and trunked LMR circuits is a necessary step to supporting continuous communications for the public safety community.
For emergencies, communications restoration is dependent upon the extent of damage to the critical telecommunications infrastructure and the amount of resources (i.e., personnel and inventory) available to the service provider to repair the damage. Service providers are required by the Federal Communications Commission to restore all TSP-designated services, on a priority basis, before repairs to non-TSP services are made. In order to be considered a TSP-designated service, a qualifying organization must enroll its essential telecommunications lines in the TSP program. Each 9-1-1 call center must ensure an adequate number of lines to maintain continuity of operations.
The TSP program is divided into two sections: restoration and provisioning. There are five TSP priority restoration levels. First responder organizations typically qualify for level three, which includes communications lines necessary for public health, safety, and maintenance of law and order. The higher priority levels, i.e., levels one and two, include national security leadership and certain high-level military communications lines. Less than one-tenth of one percent of the Nation’s access lines has been assigned a TSP priority level of one or two. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that restoration of higher priority TSP lines will appreciably slow restoration of level-three TSP lines.
Qualifying organizations can also use the TSP program to have essential communications services installed on a priority basis. This can ensure that essential communications services are available without lengthy delays. For example, if the existing communications circuits for a 9-1-1 center are inadequate to accommodate all of the 9-1-1 traffic, and additional circuits are needed to prevent the loss of emergency calls, the administrator can request priority provisioning of additional lines through the TSP program.
Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York, following the attacks of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, is a prime example highlighting the effectiveness of the TSP program’s restoration process (see photo). Despite unprecedented damage to the telecommunications infrastructure that took many weeks to restore, the TSP services supporting the New York Stock Exchange were back in operation in just three days.
For more information, or to sign up for the TSP program, please visit www.dhs.gov/tsp or contact the DHS Priority Telecommunications Service Center at 866-627-2255. Restoration priority will only work if it is assigned prior to a circuit going out of service. Consult with your telecommunications service provider for help determining which circuits are mission critical and to discuss any associated costs.