Media Contact: 
Evan Swarztrauber, (202) 418-2261	
evan.swarztrauber@fcc.gov

For Immediate Release

Carr Supports Wireless Resiliency Review in Wake of Hurricane Michael

WASHINGTON, November 8, 2018—This week, Chairman Pai launched a comprehensive review of the FCC’s 2016 Wireless Resiliency Cooperative Framework.  In doing so, Chairman Pai appointed first responders and industry representatives to a working group on disaster response and recovery to encourage inter-industry planning.  Last week, Commissioner Carr visited the Florida panhandle and spent 48 hours with telecom crews that are rebuilding the communications networks. 
“Based on what I saw and experienced in the Florida Panhandle last week, reviewing our wireless resiliency framework is the right step,” said Commissioner Carr.  “In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Michael, thousands of power company crews and contractors worked to restore power, which, unfortunately, often resulted in significant cuts to fiber and other communication lines.  In many cases, better cooperation could have kept both the power and fiber lines intact, for example, by detaching fiber lines from poles and leaving them on the ground, rather than cutting them clean off the damaged poles.  There are lessons to be learned from Hurricane Michael, and I look forward to engaging with the working group on disaster response and recovery to better plan for future events.”
For more on Commissioner Carr’s thoughts on the recovery and lessons learned for the future, see his post, which is available here:  https://medium.com/@BrendanCarrFCC/rebuilding-after-michael-65b0eed44f26.  Also, see his video summarizing his time with the telecom crews: https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1058405454278201345.

	 
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Office of Commissioner Brendan Carr: (202) 418-2200
ASL Videophone: (844) 432-2275
TTY: (888) 835-5322
Twitter: @BrendanCarrFCC
www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/brendan-carr

This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).