FCC Focused on Restoring Service to Puerto Rico; Have 'Guts' for Field Hearings, Rosenworcel Says

The FCC needs to work toward immediately restoring communications service to affected areas in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands before it considers longer term issues, said Chairman Ajit Pai in a news conference after a Public Safety Bureau report on the FCC response to storms Harvey, Irma and Maria at Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting. The commission is “focused like a laser beam” on restoration, Pai said, calling the situation in Puerto Rico "dire." Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC should hold field hearings in affected areas on how best to prepare for such disasters. The agency should “have the guts” to get out on the ground, she said. “You don’t pull together a report with only the information you amass from sitting in front of your keyboard,” said Rosenworcel. “You get out.”

Four bureau staffers are scheduled to travel to Puerto Rico as early as Wednesday, but complications could cause delay, said bureau Operations and Emergency Management Division Chief Chris Anderson in response to questioning by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. The damage to Puerto Rico’s infrastructure “almost can't be overstated,” Anderson said, creating a “tremendous logistical challenge” in getting in personnel and needed generators and fuel to get communications networks back up. The FCC won’t send in staff until resources are adequate and safe accommodation is in place for them, Anderson said.

Logistical concerns are a reason to put off considering hearings, O’Rielly said in a news conference. The FCC shouldn’t cause problems by burdening affected areas with such proceedings too soon, he said. It’s not clear such hearings would be beneficial, he said. The FCC improving its response to such disasters as it did in the wake of Superstorm Sandy would be a “silver lining” to the current destruction, said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. The bureau is planning to issue a public notice seeking comment on what could be improved about the FCC responses, and a workshop “to foster a dialogue” is also planned, Anderson said.

For all three hurricanes, the FCC began preparing before the storms made landfall, Anderson told the commission. Such preparations included making contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, local officials and service providers, and supplying letters from the Department of Homeland Security to service providers to “facilitate access to fuel and to gain access to their sites,” Anderson said. After the storms hit, FCC teams traveled to affected areas to gather data on the availability of first responder communications, radio stations and land mobile radio, he said. Public Safety and the Enforcement bureaus' staff “completed 38 missions" at sites across Florida, Texas, Georgia and Louisiana. The FCC also processed 48 requests for assistance from first responders and service providers, and 91 requests for special temporary authority, Anderson said. Since “the onset of Maria,” agency staff and Pai himself have been in contact with officials and service providers in Puerto Rico, Anderson and Pai said.

At the height of Harvey, 4.7 percent of cellsites were out in the affected area, while at Irma’s peak, 27.4 percent of cellsites were out “across Florida,” and 55.8 percent of cellsites were out in Puerto Rico the day after that storm made landfall. Anderson said before Maria made landfall, “communications impact was greatest in the U.S. Virgin Islands,” where cell outages were above 50 percent between Irma and Maria. As of Monday, Maria’s “massive damage” brought down 91.2 percent of cellsites in Puerto Rico, and 60.4 percent in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Most 911 call centers remained operational through all three storms, Anderson said, though 14 in Florida were out during Irma’s height, and one U.S. Virgin Islands call center lost service during Maria, he said. During Harvey, 270,000 subscribers lost cable and wireline service, and 1.7 million were without service in Florida one week after Irma. Anderson didn’t quantify cable/wireline losses to Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, calling it only “widespread damage.” Two TV stations and nine radio stations lost service from Harvey, 10 TV stations and 51 radio stations from Irma, and “informal reports” say 22 radio stations and two TV stations in Puerto Rico were “operational,” Anderson said.

Storm Notebook

Smitcoms filed an emergency motion asking the FCC to suspend reporting requirements for its undersea cable operations, with a quarterly report due Saturday. The operator, based in the Dutch St. Maarten and an international licensee, said it's "in no position to timely file the required reports" due to "the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma." It said its facilities and back-office operations "suffered significant damage, and management and staff are struggling mightily to bring the network back to full operation and stabilize the grid."

The Communications Workers of America said "rebuilding of storm-damaged infrastructure in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and elsewhere underscores the critical importance of the existing copper retirement and [Communications Act] Section 214 service discontinuance rules." Rule changes proposed in a wireline infrastructure rulemaking "could allow incumbent carriers to abandon service to customers without any public oversight, leaving people without reliable voice connections and functionally equivalent services," said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-84 on a meeting with Rosenworcel and an aide. The union voiced "strong support" for Rosenworcel's call for a report on the communications network impact of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.