Federal Communications Commission DA 19-187 DA 19-187 Released: October 7, 2019 ENFORCEMENT BUREAU LAUNCHES ONLINE PORTAL FOR SUBMITTING PUBLIC SAFETY AND ENTERPRISE INTERFERENCE COMPLAINTS In its Field Modernization Order, Reorganization of the Enforcement Bureau’s Field Operations, Order, 30 FCC Rcd 7649 (2015). the Commission directed the Enforcement Bureau (EB) to establish procedures to ensure that EB’s field offices timely respond to interference complaints filed by public safety and industry complainants. In a subsequent Public Notice, EB committed to implement the Commission’s direction by working to build a web portal on the Commission’s home page (www.fcc.gov) to accept such complaints. Enforcement Bureau Enhances Procedures for Public Safety and Industry Interference Complaints, Public Notice, 30 FCC Rcd 8574 (2015). Today, EB announces the launch of the new interference complaint intake portal for public safety and enterprise service providers. The new portal is intended for use by public safety and industry complainants. Consumers experiencing difficulties with a range of communications services, including wireless interference problems, should continue to use the Commission’s existing Consumer Complaint Center (https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us). Background. Interference complaints from public safety and enterprise service providers are not routinely filed with the Commission’s Consumer Complaint Center. Instead, most public safety interference complaints are made either directly to the closest EB field office or to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau’s Operations Center (FCCOPS@fcc.gov or 202/418-1122). The Operations Center then refers those complaints to the relevant EB field office. Similarly, most enterprise service issues, like wireless carrier interference complaints, have been filed through EB’s Cellular Telephone Interference Complaint webpage. Those complaints are automatically forwarded to the closest EB field office. Generally, other industry, enterprise, and government service interference complainants contact the EB field office directly or file through the FCC’s websites. Starting on Monday, October 7, 2019, the Commission will now streamline the complaint intake process by having a single intake point for public safety and enterprise service interference complaints. To use the new intake portal, enterprise service licensees or federal agency spectrum users should click on the “PSIX-ESIX Interference Complaints” link located on the Commission’s home page (https://www.fcc.gov/) to be redirected to the Radio Frequency Service Interference Complaint Portal landing page (https://fccprod.service-now.com/psix-esix/). From there, complainants will be able to identify the type of complaint—public safety, For purposes of the new interference complaint portal, the term “public safety” includes both emergency services (e.g., first responders, police, fire, and other law enforcement) as well as safety-of-life services (e.g., Coast Guard, FAA, airport authorities, aircraft pilots, and operators of maritime vessels). enterprise, The term “enterprise” refers to a broad range of radio services for which the Commission issues individual licenses and some government services. Examples of enterprise services range from Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) to broadcast services to private land mobile radio services. Enterprise service complainants are required to provide their FCC Registration Number (FRN) in the complaint. or consumer. Consumers wishing to submit complaints about interference, including to operations within the Amateur Radio Service or some Personal Radio Services such as CB Radio and the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), should select the “consumer” option, which will send them to the Consumer Complaint Center. In addition to providing a centralized interference complaint mechanism, the new interference complaint intake portal also implements the other features described in EB’s earlier Public Notice with respect to public safety and enterprise interference complaints: · Categorization and Prioritization of Complaints. The new system will route all actionable public safety interference complaints to the Commission’s Operations Center for preliminary review and assignment to the appropriate EB field office. Based on the contents of an enterprise interference complaint, the system will also automatically route the complaint to the appropriate EB field office. · Confirmation of Receipt and Complaint Tracking. Complainants will automatically receive an e-mail confirmation that their complaint has been received by the system. In addition to providing a unique complaint number, this e-mail will also state the relevant time period within which the complainant should expect to receive an initial response from a field agent. · Initial Response Timelines. Field offices will contact complainants raising high priority (including public safety) interference issues within one calendar day of filing with the FCC. For medium priority interference complaints, the field office will contact the complainant within two business days of filing. Low priority interference complaints will receive an initial response within five business days of filing. Initial responses may be made by e-mail or telephone and may seek additional information from the complainant. As noted in EB’s prior Public Notice, the Commission has historically encouraged both industry licensees and public safety spectrum users and licensees to first exhaust their own efforts before submitting interference complaints to the Commission. These efforts include, for example, using industry-specific interference reporting sites, such as that used by 800 MHz licensees. See http://www.publicsafety800mhzinterference.com/CTIAWeb/. The new portal will prompt members of these stakeholder communities to first report interference problems through these mechanisms. When such interference issues cannot be resolved privately, the new portal will serve as a backstop. The new intake portal for public safety and enterprise interference complaints will improve complainants’ ability to stay informed of the status of their complaint and will also enable stakeholders to develop mutually beneficial relationships with the EB field agents in their area. By streamlining interference complaint intake and response, this process will help serve the Commission’s overall efficiency and resource management goals and result in more effective enforcement against interference that affects a high volume of end users or potentially threatens human life or safety. – FCC – 3