WASHINGTON—The Bush administration pledged to accelerate efforts to give national security and emergency response personnel priority access on mobile-phone networks, a capability previously shunned by wireless carriers that suddenly has been given high priority by government and industry in the aftermath of the 11 September terrorist attacks.
The National Communications System, a White House-level organization of officials from 22 government agencies, said it is evaluating ways to deploy wireless priority access in the short term in some metropolitan areas and in the longer term across the entire United States.
In July 2000, five years after NCS requested rules, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided mobile-phone carriers could make wireless priority access available on a voluntary basis. No U.S. mobile-phone carrier currently provides wireless priority access.
“In times of severe wireless network congestion, call completion percentages can drop well below 5 percent. It is essential that we work with industry to deploy priority access service for use in crisis situations as soon as possible, ” said Richard Clarke, the new special adviser to President Bush for cyber security.
The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), an association representing U.S. cellular operators, recently proposed to make wireless priority access available to 500 security and emergency officials within 60 days and to 50,000 officials by the end of 2002.
