The FCC has formed a new Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group to look for ways to improve the resiliency of broadband infrastructure before a disaster occurs, as well as actions that can be taken to more quickly restore broadband infrastructure following a disaster.
The working group is also charged with developing best practices for coordination among wireless providers, backhaul providers, and power companies during and after a disaster.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stated: “Recently, I announced that the FCC will comprehensively re-evaluate the agency’s Wireless Resiliency Framework. The BDAC Working Group’s recommendations will be key to this review. We encourage and expect all stakeholders—including government at all levels, power companies, fixed and mobile broadband providers, first responders, and others—to work together to develop ways to harden networks for future disasters and quickly restore communications services.”
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-18-1121A1.docx
MEMBERS OF THE DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY WORKING GROUP
* indicates a member of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee
Chair:
Red Grasso, FirstNet State Point of Contact
North Carolina Department of Information Technology
Vice-Chair:
Jonathan Adelstein, President & Chief Executive Officer*
Wireless Infrastructure Association
Members:
Andrew Afflerbach, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Engineering, CTC Technology and Energy
National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
Allen Bell, Distribution Support Manager, Georgia Power Company*
Southern Company
Megan Bixler, Technical Program Manager for Communications Center and 911 Services
Association of Public Safety Communications Officials
Skyler Ditchfield, Chief Executive Officer
GeoLinks
Patrick Donovan, Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs
CTIA
Tony Fischer, Director, Information Technology
City of Germantown, Tennessee
Monica Gambino, Vice President, Legal
Crown Castle
Larry Hanson, Executive Director*
Georgia Municipal Association
David Hartshorn, Chief Executive Officer
Geeks Without Frontiers
Greg Hauser, Communications Branch Manager/Statewide Interoperability Coordinator,
North Carolina Emergency Management Division
National Emergency Management Association
Kurt Jacobs, Corporate Director, Emerging Technology & Solutions
JMA Wireless
Richard Kildow, Director of Business Continuity & Emergency Management
Verizon
Frank Korinek, Director of Government Affairs
Motorola
Wyatt Leehy, Information Technology Manager
Great Plains Communications
David Marshack, Telecommunications Regulatory Lead
Loon
Jim Matheson, Chief Executive Officer*
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Kelly McGriff, Vice President & Deputy General Counsel*
Uniti Group
Wendy Moser, Commissioner, Colorado Public Utilities Commission
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
Alexandra Fernandez Navarro, Commissioner
Puerto Rico Public Service Regulatory Board
John O’Connor, Director, National Coordinating Center for Communications
Department of Homeland Security
Eddie Reyes, Prince William County Emergency Communications Center
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council
Rikin Thaker, Vice President, Telecommunications and Spectrum Policy*
Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council
Pete Tomczak, Manager, Spectrum Coordination and Clearance
FirstNet
Rocky Vaz, Director of Emergency Management
City of Dallas, Texas
Joseph Viens, Senior Director of Government Affairs
Charter
Debra Wulff, Public Safety Director
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
FWD: The FCC’s much needed Disaster Working Group
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) opened a nominating process to select members for a new Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). The long bureaucratic name might suggest to some a tedious process of government meetings, argumentation, and report writing geared at creating new rules that broadband service providers will likely find difficult to interpret, let…