Cell carriers may have to report post-disaster operability

The FCC proposed to require “... wireless service providers to publicly disclose the percentage of cell sites within their networks that are operational during and immediately after disasters.”

The recommended rule comes following last year’s Superstorm Sandy which “disabled approximately 25 percent of cell sites in the affected region, with more than 50 percent of cell sites disabled in the hardest-hit counties”

The FCC is now open to public comment on this proposal and differing approaches.

(note: at the time of this posting, the FCC website is closed due to the federal government shutdown)

FCC proposes action to spur improvements in wireless network reliability during disasters (FCC news release, Sep. 26, 2013)

FCC proposal would require carriers to report cell tower outages in wake of disasters (Fierce Wireless, Sep. 27, 2013)