*Pages 1--4 from Microsoft Word - 51656* 1 STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN KEVIN J. MARTIN September 15, 2005 Open Meeting Effects of Hurricane Katrina Atlanta, Georgia Thank you all for your excellent presentations. We appreciate all the efforts that you have taken, under extremely trying circumstances, to deal with this unprecedented disaster. The hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast states on August 29 th devastated the region. People lost their homes, their businesses, and even their lives. Our hearts go out to all of the survivors who are now struggling with putting their lives back together. Today we focus on one part of the damage and rebuilding effort: the communications systems. The destruction to the facilities of the communications companies in the region was extraordinary. More than three million people lost their phone service, more than a thousand wireless towers were knocked down, and over 100 broadcast stations were knocked off the air. As a result, it was extremely difficult for hundreds of thousands of people to receive news and emergency information and to communicate with their loved ones. Emergency workers and public safety officials had difficulty coordinating. It is at times like these that we are reminded of the importance of being able to communicate. While no communications network could be expected to remain fully operational in the face of a direct hit from a category four or five hurricane, that fact was little consolation to the people on the ground. Fortunately, the work to restore communications began immediately. The communications companies in the region undertook, and continue to undertake, Herculean efforts in formidable circumstances to rebuild, reconnect, and broadcast. Service providers had to deal with extreme flooding, lack of power, dwindling fuel resources for generators, and security. Despite these obstacles, three radio stations in New Orleans continued to operate throughout the storm, and a fourth resumed operations within several hours of losing power. Wireline carriers were able to begin restoring service within five days, with significant improvement accomplished within a week. Wireless carriers began to restore service within two days and achieved substantial improvement by the weekend. As our witnesses described today, companies are going beyond restoring their own facilities. Broadcasters are sharing facilities and precious gasoline with their competitors. BellSouth has helped competitive wireline service providers and wireless companies resume service by making its emergency operations center available to them, as we will see on our tour. BellSouth also has committed its facilities in New Orleans to wireless providers to make restoration of wireless service a priority. Satellite providers are wiring over 100 shelters so that evacuees can receive critical information – as well as entertainment – from television. We at the Commission have devoted significant time and resources to cut bureaucratic “red tape,” enable disaster relief officials to communicate, and facilitate companies’ 1 2 ability to quickly restore services in the region. We have waived numerous rules to enable telephone companies to re- route traffic, disconnect and reconnect lines, and switch long distance providers so that consumers’ phone calls could get through. We waived rules to enable non- commercial broadcast stations to air fundraisers for disaster relief efforts and to transmit local commercial programming to get critical emergency information to the public. We took action to ensure wireless carriers continue to maintain service to consumers who have been dislocated due to the hurricane and evacuation. We have granted more than 100 temporary frequency authorizations for emergency workers, organizations and companies to provide wireless and broadcast services in the affected areas as well as in shelters around the country. Since the day after the hurricane struck, we have reached out to affected companies – often numerous times a day – to identify their greatest needs so that we could communicate those needs to other federal officials who have the ability to help companies on the ground. We have been open all day, seven days a week, since the day of the hurricane, which has enabled us to respond to most requests for special authority or waivers within four hours, and all requests within 24 hours. I am extremely proud of the efforts and dedication of the over 200 FCC employees that have helped us in this endeavor. They embody what it means to be a public servant, and I am grateful to all of them. The witnesses here today represent the many workers and companies who rose to the challenge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. While the task of restoring all services remains significant, you have made great progress. From this process, we need to learn what worked, what did not, and what the Commission should do now to make our communications networks more robust in the future. We need to improve our ability to serve the public in the event of another disaster, and we need to provide leadership to the industry to focus attention on what could be improved. Today – to provide support to those in need and to improve the ability of the public and emergency responders to communicate during a crisis – I am pleased to announce my intention for the Commission to take three actions. (1) Provide over $200 million of immediate relief to the affected areas; First, I propose to provide $211 million in universal service funding to the disaster area. We will work through four existing programs to provide this support. We will use the Low Income Program to help those who have been cut off to reestablish their lines of communication. For all people eligible for FEMA disaster assistance, we will provide support for wireless handsets and a package of 300 free minutes for evacuees and people still in the affected area without telephone service. For all people eligible for FEMA disaster assistance, we also will provide support to pay the costs of reconnecting consumers to the network as the disaster- struck area is rebuilt. Through the Rural Health Care Program, we will support those individuals providing emergency health care services in the region. We will allow public and non- profit health care providers, including American Red Cross shelters, to apply for support of their 2