Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D., N.J.), ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced legislation today that seeks to bolster communications networks during emergencies. The congressman said he introduced the Securing Access to Networks in Disasters Act due to communications problems after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

“During the storm and for weeks afterwards, many of us were left stranded, with no way to reach friends, to call loved ones, or even to call for help,” said Rep. Pallone.  “That is simply unacceptable.  So today I am introducing the SANDy Act to ensure we can all communicate, even when the worst occurs.  We must do everything we can to be better prepared for the next time disaster strikes.”

The legislation would require the FCC to launch a proceeding to set roaming rules  “at reasonable rates during times of emergency and if the outage is longer than 24 hours.” The FCC also would have to launch a proceeding “on the provision of roaming agreements between mobile services at no charge for all communications during times of emergency to or from 911 services.”

The Commission would have to submit to Congress a study on “(1) mobile service providers supplying outage data to public safety answering points in times of emergency on a confidential basis; and (2) making telecommunications service provider-owned WiFi access points, and other communications technologies operating on unlicensed spectrum, available to the general public access to 911 services, without requiring any login credentials, during times of emergency when mobile service is unavailable and whether non-telecommunications service provider-owned WiFi access points can provide public access to 911 services during times of emergency.”

The bill also would modify the Stafford Act to help all communications providers fix outages more quickly, even if they travel across state lines.

The FCC also would have to “create a master point of contact directory” to make it easier for carriers and public safety answering points (PSAPs) to communicate.

The Government Accountability Office also would have to prepare a report on the power needs of telecom networks, including during emergencies.

In a news release issued by Rep. Pallone’s office, Derek Poarch, executive director and chief executive officer of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International, praised the legislation.

“As crafted, it contains a number of provisions that would be helpful to 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) facing future large-scale disasters, and would generally lead to improvements in emergency communications in such situations,” he said. – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily