FCC Extends Deadlines, Issues Waivers for Ida
Three Louisiana public safety answering points are down and six more are rerouting calls, said Tuesday’s disaster information reporting system on communications systems affected by Tropical Storm Ida. The FCC also extended deadlines, among other actions. New Orleans and nearby Louisiana parishes have faced 911 outages, and landlines have been out of service in some areas (see 2108300054).
911 services in Louisiana were strongly affected during landfall (see 2108300054). The new report showed an increase in affected PSAPs from Monday but a decrease in affected cellsites, with 17.1% out of service in the storm region compared with 28.1% Monday. That's 38.1% of Louisiana cellsites down in affected counties and less than 2% in counties in Alabama and Mississippi. “The number of cell site outages in a specific area does not necessarily correspond to the availability of wireless service to consumers in that area,” the DIRS document said.
And 449,407 cable and wireline subscribers are listed as out of service in Louisiana, an increase of over 100,000 from Monday. Alabama shows 2,427 subscribers out of service and Mississippi 19,224, which are also increases. Outages rose on the broadcast side: four TV stations are reported as down in the region compared with two Monday; eight FM stations are out and four AMs, versus three FMs and two AMs Monday.
The agency should investigate the communications disruptions caused by this and other storms, said Free Press. “While the new network of levees surrounding New Orleans held, the internet and phone networks in the city and surrounding parishes did not,” said Free Press News Voices Director Vanessa Graber: “While the Biden FCC is doing a better job than its predecessor, more work is needed to prepare for storms.”
AT&T’s Louisiana wireless network is operating at more than 85% of normal, up from 60% a day earlier, while the Alabama network is operating normally and Mississippi is facing “minimal impacts to wireless service,” said AT&T Tuesday. Hurricane Ida was downgraded to a tropical depression as it moves inland toward mid-Atlantic states. Wireline teams are addressing storm damage to infrastructure, AT&T said. “All of our wireline facilities are online, although many are running on backup power at this time. We are deploying additional generators and refueling them as needed.”
The Office of Economics and Analytics, meanwhile, extended the Sept. 1 date for filing form 477 data, said a public notice in docket 11-10 in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. “The Office will announce the new filing deadline by Public Notice shortly.” The agency extended to Sept. 7 times for upfront payments and corrected applications for the Auction 110 offering of flexible-use licenses in the 3.45 GHz band, said another PN.
The Wireless Bureau granted a waiver request from the American Radio Relay League to allow amateur data transmissions at a higher symbol rate “to facilitate hurricane relief communications,” said an order. The agency OK'd one request for special temporary authority, to the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System.
Telcos also got some relief. The Wireline Bureau approved temporary waiver of the number aging rule, which limits providers to aging numbers that were disconnected for up to 90 days before reassigning them. The waiver applies to all companies that provide service in areas of Louisiana and Mississippi affected by the storm, and expires May 31. It will also apply to other areas declared states of emergency by the White House during the 2021-22 hurricane season.