The Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) and the...

The Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) and the Media Security & Reliability Council (MSRC) were combined by FCC Chmn. Martin to form a new advisory group, the Communications Security, Reliability & Interoperability Council. After meeting 3 times per year in 2004-2005, NRIC VII, the latest version, held its final meeting Dec. 16, 2005. “The purpose of the council is to provide recommendations to the FCC to ensure optimal security, reliability and interoperability of communications systems, including telecommunications, media and public safety communications systems,” the FCC said in a notice. One industry source who had been on NRIC said Mon. the group’s main value was making certain carriers fulfilled commitments on making communications systems more reliable. “This has probably been the least active [NRIC] has been since this was set up when Al Sikes was still chairman of the FCC,” the source said: “Part of the value was making sure people really were doing what they were supposed to be doing and reporting to the group at large.” The MSRC last met a year ago. Last summer, state regulators questioned why the FCC had stopped scheduling meetings for groups like NRIC (CD Aug 30 p1) and the N. American Numbering Council.