FCC Dupes Action On Hurricane Rita

Telecom Policy Report, Sept 26, 2005

With Hurricane Rita roaring out of the Gulf of Mexico onto the coast of the Texas-Louisiana border and northward, the Federal Communications Commission over the past weekend invoked a wide range of emergency measures for the impacted area that mirrors those already in place for the three states in the region already affected by Hurricane Katrina three weeks ago (TPR, Sept. 19 and Sept. 12).

As it has done since the Labor Day holiday, the federal regulator maintained an open office over the weekend to expedite red tape; to handle emergency special temporary authorization (STA) requests; and to facilitate any possible relief and reconstruction efforts that may be necessary by wireline, wireless and broadcast service providers impacted by Rita.

On Friday and Saturday, the FCC re-issued special orders on procedures to provide emergency communications in areas affected by Katrina and Rita applicable to international facilities, submarine cables, satellite earth stations, landline telecom carriers, wireless carriers, radio and television broadcasters, and multiple segments of the cable operator business.

As of press time, there were no official tallies issued on potential damage and disruption to communications infrastructures caused by this second major hurricane, while the industry and the feds reportedly continue to deal with the ramifications of Katrina in late August. .

As it did for BellSouth and its subsidiaries in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, the FCC last week - in anticipation of some level of Rita damage - also gave special advanced permission to SBC Communications and its subsidiaries in Louisiana and Texas and other areas the flexibility to handle its own and other carriers' needs where necessary under extraordinary circumstances; the activities permitted normally would violate various rules surrounding carrier boundaries.

In addition, the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau waived procedural rules for the Universal Service Fund (USF) on an emergency interim basis, essentially allowing state commissions, carriers, and program beneficiaries in the affected areas to postpone filing various USF forms, payments and data for up to 150 days. This applied to the Katrina areas but it is likely to be duplicated for Rita's aftermath.

Congress Investigates Glitches

On a related front, the full Senate Committee on Science, Commerce and Transportation - under Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and co-chair Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) - last week held a hearing on communications in disaster situations - specifically problems impeding the restoration of both emergency and commercial communications after Katrina (TelecomWeb news break, Sept. 23).

Much of the focus was on the inability of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to give telecom repair crews permission to enter the disaster area; besides this so-called "credentialing" matter, other important residual issues that adversely impacted reconstruction and recovery of emergency and commercial telecom infrastructure damaged in the three Gulf Coast states included safety and security for the emergency crews, and the lack of electrical energy affecting their efforts.

The Senate hearing on such matters echoed previous witness testimony at hearing of the full House Committee on Energy and Commerce Committee (TelecomWeb news break, Sept. 9) and at the monthly open meeting of the FCC that was held in Atlanta (TelecomWeb news break, Sept. 14).

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