Former Officials Say FCC Must Do More in Response to Maria

More than two weeks after Maria struck, food and water remain in short supply, and restoring communications systems has been “painfully slow,” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “This is shameful. These are American citizens.” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said Pai showed leadership.

Pai promised more to come. “I look forward to taking additional action in the near future to help those in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands recover,” he said. The FCC is doing what it can, said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. “When responding to a disaster, every lost minute, lost hour, or lost day can cost lives and livelihoods."

A former senior official said Pai should convene all carriers and coordinate in a meeting how each would contribute to rebuild the network in Puerto Rico; convene all satellite carriers and get them to send satellite phones to all nonprofits and government agencies so they can talk to each other; call cable companies and ask how much money is needed to restore service; and send in a “SWAT team” of industry and FCC people to restore 911 service everywhere ASAP. The FCC declined to comment.

Such actions seem “eminently reasonable given the magnitude of how this storm has ravaged the communications systems,” said former Commissioner Gloria Tristani, a native of Puerto Rico. “With the magnitude of the outages here it really helps the process if the chair of the commission can be proactive in not just calling the parties together but leading the parties into bringing forward short-term solutions, long-term solutions and, later on, coming up with findings on how one could be better prepared for this kind of disaster.”

Pai should go to Puerto Rico ASAP to meet the companies and government officials, Tristani said. One focus should be on people who normally have problems paying for service and now “are going to have bigger problems paying bills,” she said. “The commission really should be acting more proactively,” she said. “I know they care. I know the chairman cares, and I know all the commissioners care. This is beyond anything the commission has dealt with, including Katrina.”

“This is a genuine human tragedy, and the U.S. government should leave nothing undone,” said former Commissioner Michael Copps, now at Common Cause. “The FCC needs to think out of the box,” he told us. “When FCC appropriations are considered, Congress needs to be thinking with less parsimony and more vision so the commission can act from the get-go. The safety of the people is always the first responsibility of government.”

Pai is “absolutely right to explore as rapidly as possible all of the solutions and options that the FCC can provide or influence,” said Venable communications lawyer Jamie Barnett. “Maria is a tragic reminder of just how critical the communications infrastructure is to human life, safety and well-being. Communications is a key enabler for so much of the response and recovery of Puerto Rico. The lack of money and resources should not be the reason that people there die or remain in misery.”

Frank Montero of Fletcher Heald said broadcasters believe they also should be eligible for FCC funds since the Securing Access to Networks in Disasters Act classified them as first responders. “I have been on the phone with broadcasters and the situation is very bad with many towers down,” Montero said. “They think it may take some radio broadcasters months to get back up on the air and some may never return.” Power outages and shortages of generator fuel, batteries and water caused huge problems, but broadcasters are working together, he said. “That is moving to see.”

Luis Romero, vice president of the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Industry Alliance, emailed Wednesday that the response was immediate after the group sent a letter to the White House asking for help (see 1709270061). “We hold daily meetings and have industry participants working with the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board president, local and federal team members,” he said in his update.

“The focus has been to keep operating the facilities we have,” Romero said. “That is tough enough due to the fuel distribution logistics and constant need to repair power plants. The cellular carriers are operating on free-roaming to share the cellsites they have, which are less than 20 percent of installed sites. The wireline central offices are 60 percent up, but equally stressed. The electric power to the 3.4 mile radius where the telcos have their main switches in San Juan is being considered a primary target for commercial electric power restoration.”

Operator Open Mobile asked the FCC for $14 million in emergency USF support to "restore critical wireless service in Puerto Rico." The carrier's network "suffered unprecedented and catastrophic damage that the Company has not yet been able to fully quantify," and insurance coverage is uncertain, said a petition Wednesday in docket 10-90. Open Mobile (PR Wireless) said it appreciated the FCC's effort to make seven months' worth of high-cost support immediately available, but that would leave a seven-month gap afterward. To help rebuild, the company asked for $14 million in supplemental support through 2019, "paid in a single disbursement, at the earliest possible date," subject to accountability measures such as periodic reports and detailed accounting of all expenditures. Open Mobile also asked the regulator to defer its 2017 USF contributions to the 2018 "true-up process," give it an enhanced Lifeline discount for low-income consumers, and provide a 90-day extension of recently granted 90-day waivers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from certain Lifeline filing deadlines.