More than 90% of cell sites in Puerto Rico remained down today due to widespread damage caused by Hurricane Maria, the FCC said. The outage data came from information submitted to the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), which has been activated for all counties in Puerto Rico and all districts in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The report continues to warn “that many communications providers have not yet reported in DIRS, so outage information almost certainly is not complete. Overall, however, it appears as though there has been a little improvement to communications networks in Puerto Rico since the hurricane departed. For example, 22.3% of the cell sites in the vicinity of San Juan are now operational (as compared to just 18.1% yesterday).”

“Overall, 91.2% (slightly down from 92.5% yesterday) of cell sites are out of service,” the report said. “All counties in Puerto Rico have greater than 75% of their cell sites out of service. 34 (down from 37 yesterday) out of the 78 counties in Puerto Rico have 100% of their cell sites out of service.” Continue reading →

The FCC announced that it plans to consider nine items at the Sept. 26 meeting, including a draft annual report to Congress that would conclude for the first time in years that there is effective competition in the mobile wireless market.

Also on the agenda released are a draft report and order and further notice of proposed rulemaking updating and streamlining the FCC’s rules to facilitate licensing of non-geostationary-satellite orbit (NGSO) fixed-satellite service (FSS); a draft notice of inquiry into call-routing and location information for 911 calls from enterprise communications systems used by hotels, businesses, and other entities; a draft NPRM seeking comment on whether it should provide relief to non-nationwide wireless carriers from its hearing aid compatibility (HAC) reporting requirements; a draft NPRM aimed at modernizing the administration and assignment of toll-free numbers through auctions and other methods; a draft report and order on modernizing cable TV technical rules to reflect the industry’s use of digital transmission systems; a draft NPRM to eliminate rules requiring certain broadcast and cable entities to maintain paper copies of FCC rules; a draft third report and order that would relax or eliminate rules related to the use of directional antenna rays by AM radio stations; and a draft enforcement action. The FCC does not reveal anything about such enforcement proceedings until it adopts an order or notice of apparent liability, so as not to prejudice an entity beforehand.

The FCC also is scheduled to get a briefing from the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau on the agency’s response to the recent hurricanes. The meeting is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m.- Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com; Lynn Stanton, lynn.stanton@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily

The Policy and Licensing Division of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released an order today granting Puerto Rico’s Aug. 31 request that the agency accept its late-filed renewal application for a 700 megahertz band license covering state channels. The territory told the FCC that a license renewal reminder letter “was never received by appropriate personnel to submit the license to the renewal process,” the order said.

“Taking into account all of the facts and circumstances, including Puerto Rico satisfying the Commission’s initial substantial service requirement, we conclude that Puerto Rico’s request should be granted,” the division said. “In this particular case, we conclude that dismissal of Puerto Rico’s application would be unduly harsh and contrary to public interest.”

But the order cautioned that despite its “decision in this case, we reiterate that a licensee will not be afforded special consideration when it fails to file a timely renewal application simply because it engages in public safety activities.  The Commission also has stated that turnover in recordkeeping personnel, failure to check computer records, or simple forgetfulness are not valid excuses for failure to file a timely renewal application.  Furthermore, the failure to receive a renewal notice is not a unique circumstance that justifies a waiver.”

Puerto Rico, which says the 700 MHz band license supports its interoperability system, is reeling most recently from a direct hit by Hurricane Maria. —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily

More than 95% of cell sites in Puerto Rico remained down today due to widespread damage caused by Hurricane Maria, the FCC said.  There were also apparently heavy outages in cable and wireline service, although specific figures were not available. The outage data came from information submitted to the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), which has been activated for all counties in Puerto Rico and all districts in the U.S. Virgin Islands. As it did in a report yesterday, the FCC noted that “many communications providers have not yet reported in DIRS, so outage information almost certainly is not complete.”

“Overall, 95.4% (up slightly from 95.2%) of cell sites are out of service” in Puerto Rico, the FCC said in its outage report today.  “All counties in Puerto Rico have greater than 75% of their cell sites out of service. 47 out of the 78 counties in Puerto Rico have 100% of their cell sites out of service.”

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, “68.9% (down from 76.6%) of cell sites are out of service. All counties have 50% or more of their cell sites out of service,” the report said.

As for 911 services, the report said that “[t]he two PSAPs in Puerto Rico are currently functioning normally according to the primary service provider. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the St. Croix 9-1-1 Call Center has been reported as completely down. FEMA has reported significant damage to the building. The St. Thomas 9-1-1 Call Center is unable to retrieve Phase I and Phase II location information for wireless callers and ANI/ALI for VoIP Callers.” Continue reading →

More than 95% of cell sites in Puerto Rico were down today due to widespread damage caused by Hurricane Maria, the FCC said. “Hurricane Maria has had a catastrophic impact on Puerto Rico’s communications networks,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. “For example, over 95% of Puerto Rico’s wireless cell sites are currently out of service. The FCC is proactively reaching out to communications providers in Puerto Rico to gather additional information about the situation on the ground and find out if there is anything that the Commission can do to assist with restoration efforts.  We are also working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and providing all requested support.  Unfortunately, getting Puerto Rico’s communications networks up and running will be a challenging process, particularly given the power outages throughout the island.  But the FCC stands ready to do whatever we can to help with this task.”

The outage data came from information submitted to the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), which has been activated for all counties in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “It should also be noted that many communications providers have not yet reported in DIRS, so outage information almost certainly is not complete,” the FCC said in an outage report released this afternoon that reflected information reported as of 11 a.m. Continue reading →

South Carolina Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling commended the Department of Justice today for suggesting in an ex parte filing with the FCC that the jamming of contraband cellphones in correctional institutions “merits continued study” (TR Daily, Sept. 19). “I would like to thank the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General for weighing in on this important issue with the Federal Communications Commission. As long as inmates are allowed to use illegal contraband cellphones our public safety is at risk,” Mr. Stirling said in a statement.

Mr. Stirling’s department has been a leader in pushing for authorization to jamming cellphones, but the FCC repeatedly has said such activity is only permitted by federal government entities.

Courtesy TRDaily

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn today commented on their visit to Miami yesterday to assess damage caused by Hurricane Irma. The Commissioners “toured the David Paulison Fire Rescue Headquarters Building, met with a Florida Public Service Commissioner and staff from the FCC’s Miami Field Office, visited NewsRadio 610 WIOD, and spoke with a team restoring cell towers and other wireless infrastructure damaged during the storm,” according to an FCC news release.

“I commend Florida’s first responders and the entire public safety community for their heroic efforts to help keep residents safe during Hurricane Irma,” Mr. Pai said in a statement. “It was inspiring to meet with these individuals, such as fire rescue personnel at the Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center who worked tirelessly to make sure residents could get help from first responders.  I also met with broadcasters who made incredible sacrifices to keep the public informed and wireless workers bringing critical mobile services back online.  In times of an emergency, everyone involved in public safety communications has a role to play.  The lessons learned during our visit will help the FCC’s continued work to improve the performance of communications networks in future emergencies.”

“During times of greatest need, including when a natural disaster strikes, we are reminded of the incredible generosity and goodwill of those in our communities,” Ms. Clyburn said. “This was never more apparent than during our visit yesterday to South Florida where we heard countless stories from broadcasters, telecommunications providers, first responders, FCC field staff, and others who worked day and night to ensure that their communities would have a means to stay informed and keep in touch with family and friends.  There is still much more work to be done in the days and weeks ahead, including in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where more than 50% of cell sites remain out of service.  Working with my colleagues, Members of Congress, as well as state and local officials, we can translate these lessons into policies that ensure our nation’s communications networks and 9-1-1 systems remain reliable and resilient during disasters.” —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily

The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and Office of Engineering and Technology announced today that they will host a forum Nov. 6 that will focus on improving coexistence between commercial wireless and public safety licensees in the 800 megahertz band.

The event is scheduled to be held in the Commission’s meeting room and run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. In a cellular reform second report and order adopted in March (TR Daily, March 23), the FCC directed staff to convene such an event with cellular licensees, public safety licensees, and public safety equipment manufacturers. “The forum on November 6th will include the perspectives of all three groups and various other interested parties in exploring the existing 800 MHz interference environment, realistic anticipated changes in that environment, and practical options for addressing both existing and anticipated interference problems without hindering technological advances in the Cellular Service,” according to a public notice released today.

Courtesy TRDaily