WASHINGTON-Government officials should move quickly to ensure that telecommunications carriers can gain access to their sites and the necessary fuel and security to be able to restore communications service as rapidly as possible. This was the conclusion of the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee leadership after it heard testimony last week as to why restoring communications in the wake of Hurricane Katrina was so difficult.
The lack of providing proper credentials seems to be the tip of the access problems experienced by telecommunication companies after Katrina. “We do need to be designated as emergency responders,” said William Smith, BellSouth Corp.’s chief technology officer. “Laws need to be changed to explicitly state that we get access.”
The lack of receiving proper credentials has been a consistent theme as various government panels examined the communications problems that existed after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. When the Federal Communications Commission’s independent panel convened for the first time last month, panelists repeatedly mentioned access and credentials as essential to restoring service.
“It is extraordinary that the need for this credentialing was not in place,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee.
Later, talking to reporters, Collins said it should be easy to supply each checkpoint with a list of companies and as long as employees have picture identification from one of those companies, they should be given access. She said such a change should not require a change in law.
The wireless industry acknowledged the problem to RCR Wireless News. “We think the concept of advance credentialing can be extremely useful in times of emergencies when wireless employees need immediate access to affected areas. An identification process that is coordinated with public-safety officials can allow wireless workers to expediently restore and maintain the communications infrastructure that is so critical in a time of crisis. We are eager to work with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and the appropriate federal and state agencies to explore the development and implementation of an advance credentialing system,” said Chris Guttman-McCabe, CTIA vice president of regulatory affairs.
It is unclear which, if any, of the federal agencies would have jurisdiction to order access for telecommunications-repair personnel. The law that controls the operations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency does not mention private industry. A representative of the National Communications System, another agency inside the Department of Homeland Security, said the national response plan does not deal with restoring infrastructure.
“The national response plan currently does not mention infrastructure,” said Peter Fonash, Ph.D., deputy manager of the National Communications System.
“Isn’t that a huge deficiency in the NRP?” asked Collins.
NCS believes credentialing is a function of the state and local government, said Fonash.
“There was an apparent disconnect between federal and state officials and the credentialing processes remained a problem for more than a month,” said Fonash. “We are working on pre-credentialing of industry personnel.”
