Media Contact: Will Wiquist, (202) 418-0509 will.wiquist@fcc.gov For Immediate Release FCC ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENTS WITH CENTURYLINK & WEST SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS REGARDING 911 OUTAGE IN AUGUST 2018 Companies Agree to Pay $575,000 in Penalties for Violations -- WASHINGTON, November 4, 2019—The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau today announced settlements with CenturyLink and West Safety Communications to conclude investigations into violations of FCC rules in connection with a multi-state 911 outage that took place on August 1, 2018. CenturyLink and West Safety Communications have agreed to pay $400,000 and $175,000, respectively, and committed to implement a compliance plan to help ensure the integrity and reliability of the nation’s 911 network. FCC rules require that telecommunications carriers design and operate their networks to reliably transmit 911 calls to appropriate emergency authorities. This is a crucial public safety obligation. Both CenturyLink and West Safety Communications are national telecommunications carriers that frequently rely on the services of West Safety Services (parent company to West Safety Communications) to perform key parts of their obligations to connect 911 callers to 911 operators. Both CenturyLink and West Safety Communications are responsible for complying with applicable Commission rules regardless of any failures by their subcontractors or affiliates. On August 1, 2018, a West Safety Services technician mistakenly made a configuration change to the West Safety Service 911 routing network, resulting in the failure of CenturyLink and West Safety Communications to route 911 calls to dozens of 911 call centers in multiple states. The 911 outage lasted 65 minutes and led to many 911 calls failing to reach emergency operators. For instance, in Minnesota alone, CenturyLink failed to deliver 693 emergency calls to approximately 70 public safety call centers. Further details about the outage’s impacts in Minnesota are detailed in a 2019 report from the Minnesota Public Utility Commission, available here. Under the settlements, formally known as Consent Decrees, CenturyLink has agreed to pay $400,000 and West Safety Communications has agreed to pay $175,000 to the U.S. Treasury. In addition, both companies have committed to compliance plans, which require them to identify risks of disruptions to 911 service, protect against those risks, ensure detection of outages, prepare to respond quickly and effectively to outages, and plan to restore services as quickly as possible. The companies have also agreed to report to the FCC on these compliance efforts for the next three years. The Consent Decree for CenturyLink, Inc., is available at: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-19-1061A1.pdf. The Consent Decree for West Safety Communications Inc., is available at: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-19-1063A1.pdf. ### Media Relations: (202) 418-0500 / ASL: (844) 432-2275 / TTY: (888) 835-5322 / Twitter: @FCC / www.fcc.gov 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).