Carriers must report network outages

WASHINGTON-Wireless carriers will be required to report significant outages to the Federal Communications Commission, the agency ruled today. The commission said mandatory reporting is necessary in this day of heightened homeland security concerns to be able to be aware of vulnerabilities in the communications networks. The industry had strenuously argued to continue a voluntary program, but FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said the voluntary program was not giving the agency the information it needed. The commission defines a significant outage as 900,000 caller minutes not being able to connect.