GENACHOWSKI MEMO PROBES FCC READINESS TO HANDLE PUBLIC SAFETY CRISIS

摘要

As one of his first acts as FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski sent acting Public Safety Bureau Chief David Furth a memo Tuesday asking for a top-down review of public safety preparedness at the FCC. The memo asked Furth to describe in detail the FCC's main functions during a crisis affecting both significant communications infrastructure and FCC and government continuity of operations. It also asks for a description of preparedness and continuity training exercises, including a schedule of recent and planned training exercises and the results of past exercises. It asks for a description of "real-world" incidents over the past five years that required the FCC to initiate its emergency plan, including false alarms. "What was the incident," the memo asked. "What was the agency's response? How did the agency perform?" nn" When disaster strikes, the ability to communicate is essential," the memo said: "The FCC plays a key role in ensuring our nation's telecommunications is robust and resilient. In the event of a major crisis, the Commission should be prepared to act decisively, within the scope of its jurisdiction, to enable communications among emergency first responders and among citizens." Brian Fontes, president of NENA, said on Tuesday he welcomed the review. "Over the years, the commission continues to improve processes to ensure emergency communication is restored quickly in times of emergencies," Fontes said. "A thorough review of the commission's processes will enable the commission to determine what works and what could work better with improvements."