The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released a public notice today seeking comments on “the resiliency of the communications infrastructure, the effectiveness of emergency communications, and government and industry responses to the 2017 hurricane season.”

The public notice seeks answers to a number of questions.

“The Bureau will identify, from the comments received, areas for further exploration in workshop(s) to be held in the coming months on improving future response efforts,” it said. “While this Public Notice is primarily focused on the effectiveness of preparation and response activities for the 2017 hurricane season, PSHSB will coordinate with the Hurricane Recovery Task Force on issues or opportunities which should be addressed in long-term Hurricane Maria recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including potential recovery-focused workshop(s). The areas below focus on impacts to the communications infrastructure; FCC response efforts; and experiences of communications service users as well as communications services providers. In addition to providing comment on the specific questions below, commenters are encouraged to provide any additional information relevant to the 2017 hurricane season’s impact on communications, generally, or specific to any hurricane event. Commenters are also encouraged to include examples of effective and/or ineffective practices/methods.”

Comments are due Jan. 22, 2018, and replies Feb. 21, 2018, in PS docket 17-344.

“We want to hear from all stakeholders, including the public safety community; state, local, territorial, and tribal officials; industry; consumer groups; and federal response partners,” Lisa Fowlkes, chief of the Public Safety Bureau, said in a blog posting today on the public notice. “This input will inform the workshop(s) that we plan to hold next year to further explore the matter.  Our aim is to build on successful approaches and develop options to address shortfalls as we prepare for future disasters.  We are also considering what additional steps will assist this process.” —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily