Today’s Regulatory Mix: Hurricane Ida Triggers Disaster Information Reporting System, Ida Prompts Temporary Waiver of FCC’s Numbering Rules
Hurricane Ida Triggers Disaster Information Reporting System
The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) of the FCC in coordination with Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, announced the activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) in response to Hurricane Ida. DIRS is a voluntary, web-based system that communications providers, including wireless, wireline, broadcast, cable and Voice over Internet Protocol providers, and satellite providers can use to report communications infrastructure status and situational awareness information during times of crisis. Communications providers that requested to provide service to any areas listed below and expeditiously submit and update information through DIRS ( https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster/) regarding the status of their communications equipment, restoration efforts, and power. Providers that have not previously done so will be asked to first provide contact information and obtain a User ID when they access DIRS.
Providers that participate in DIRS, the separate Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) obligations are suspended for the duration of the DIRS activation with respect to outages in the counties where DIRS has been activated. Reports are requested at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, August 30, 2021, and every day after that by 10:00 a.m. until DIRS is deactivated.
COUNTIES OF INTEREST FOR THIS ACTIVATION INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
Alabama: Baldwin, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, Washington.
Louisiana: Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Point Coupee, St, Martin, St, Mary, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. DA-21-1070 2 Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermillion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana.
Mississippi: Adams, Alcorn, Amite, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clay, Coahoma, Copiah, DeSoto, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Grenada, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Itawamba, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lamar, Lee, Leflore, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Panola, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Sharkey, Stone, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Walthall, Warren, Washington, Webster, Wilkinson, Yalobusha, Yazoo.
Ida Prompts Temporary Waiver of FCC’s Numbering Rules
The FCC’s numbering rules require certain types of carriers to offer local number portability (“LNP”). These rules, however, do not extend to location or service portability. Given the extensive service disruption caused by Hurricane Ida, the FCC issued an order temporarily waiving the Commission’s numbering rules. This permits carriers in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, and the numbering administrators that support them, to port telephone numbers geographically outside of rate centers during this period.
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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.
