Communications Status Report for Areas Impacted by Hurricane Ida September 12, 2021 The following is a report on the status of communications services in geographic areas impacted by Hurricane Ida as of September 12, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. This report incorporates network outage data submitted by communications providers to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). Note that the operational status of communications services during a disaster may evolve rapidly, and this report represents a snapshot in time. This report also summarizes certain regulatory actions taken by the FCC to assist areas impacted by Hurricane Ida. The following counties are in the current geographic area that is part of DIRS (the “disaster area”) for today’s report. Louisiana: Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Point Coupee, St, Martin, St, Mary, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermillion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana. 1 911 Services The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) learns the status of each Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) through the filings of 911 Service Providers in DIRS, reporting to the FCC’s Public Safety Support Center, coordination with state 911 Administrators and, if necessary, direct contact with individual PSAPs. Louisiana: No PSAPs are reported as being affected. The following chart shows the trend in the effects on PSAPs since the storm’s landfall: 2 Wireless Services The following section describes the status of wireless communications services in the disaster area. The chart below shows trends: The current status of wireless communications services by county is shown by the following chart and map. 3 The following table provides cell sites out of service by county. 2.1% (down from 2.6% yesterday) of the cell sites in the affected area in Louisiana are out of service. The information shown was provided by the signatories to the Wireless Network Resiliency Framework Cooperative Agreement. Louisiana Cell Cell Cell Sites Cell Sites Out Cell Sites Affected Sites Sites Percent Out Due to Due to Out Due to State Counties Served Out Out Damage Transport1 Power LA ACADIA 45 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA ASCENSION 88 1 1.1% 0 0 1 LA ASSUMPTION 19 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA AVOYELLES 52 0 0.0% 0 0 0 1 These are cell sites that are out due to issues with the (typically wireline) networks that route communications traffic to and from the cell sites. 4 EAST BATON LA ROUGE 360 2 0.6% 1 0 1 EAST LA FELICIANA 27 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA EVANGELINE 41 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA IBERIA 46 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA IBERVILLE 42 1 2.4% 0 1 0 LA JEFFERSON 289 8 2.8% 0 5 3 LA LAFAYETTE 154 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA LAFOURCHE 78 4 5.1% 1 2 1 LA LIVINGSTON 121 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA ORLEANS 348 9 2.6% 3 2 4 LA PLAQUEMINES 56 7 12.5% 3 3 1 LA POINTE COUPEE 25 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA ST. MARY 56 1 1.8% 0 1 0 LA ST. BERNARD 36 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA ST. CHARLES 41 4 9.8% 1 1 2 LA ST. HELENA 13 2 15.4% 0 0 2 LA ST. JAMES 33 4 12.1% 3 0 1 ST. JOHN THE LA BAPTIST 27 2 7.4% 1 1 0 LA ST. LANDRY 85 1 1.2% 1 0 0 LA ST. MARTIN 48 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA ST. TAMMANY 260 2 0.8% 1 1 0 LA TANGIPAHOA 118 2 1.7% 0 1 1 LA TERREBONNE 81 6 7.4% 1 5 1 LA VERMILION 55 0 0.0% 0 0 0 LA WASHINGTON 55 1 1.8% 0 0 1 WEST BATON LA ROUGE 32 1 3.1% 0 0 0 WEST LA FELICIANA 28 0 0.0% 0 0 0 TOTAL 2,759 58 2.1% 16 23 19 The number of cell site outages in a specific area does not necessarily correspond to the availability of wireless service to consumers in that area. See Improving the Resiliency of Mobile Wireless Communications Networks, Order, 31 FCC Rcd 13745, para. 10 (2016) (recognizing the difficulties in accurately depicting the ongoing status of a wireless provider’s service during emergencies). Wireless networks are often designed with numerous, overlapping cell sites that provide maximum capacity and continuity of service even when an individual site is inoperable. In addition, wireless providers frequently use temporary facilities such as cells- on-wheels (also known as COWs), increased power at operational sites, roaming agreements, or take other 5 actions to maintain service to affected consumers during emergencies or other events that result in cell site outages. Cable Systems and Wireline (Combined) Cable and wireline companies reported 124,005 subscribers out of service in the disaster area in Louisiana; this may include the loss of telephone, television, and/or Internet services: The following chart illustrates the trends in the number of subscribers out of service in the disaster area in Louisiana: Broadcast: Television stations status: • 16 (no change from yesterday) TV stations reported being operational (KATC, KBTR, KDCG, KLFY-TV, KLWB, KSHV-TV, KWBJ-CD, KXKW, WBRZ, WGMB-TV, WGNO, WLAE-TV, WNOL-TV, WVLA-TV, WVUE- DT, WYES-DT). • 1 (no change from yesterday) TV station is reported as being out of service (KFOL). 6 FM Radio stations status: • 33 (no change from yesterday) FM radio stations reported being operational (K206DU, KFXZ, KKND, KLFT, KLWB, KMEZ, KNOL, KNXX, KOGM, KQXL-FM, KRVE, KSLO, KSLU, KYMK, W208FC, W225CZ, WBKL, WBRP, WDGL, WEMX, WEZB, WFMF, WKBU, WLMG, WNOE, WNXX, WQUE-FM, WRNO-FM, WRQQ, WTGE, WWL-FM, WYLD-FM, WYNK-FM). • 2 (no change from yesterday) FM stations reported being out of service (KLXH, WNKV). • 2 (no change from yesterday) FM radio stations reported being down with programming sent to another station (KVDU, WZRH). AM Radio stations status: • 9 (no change from yesterday) AM radio stations reported being operational (KFXZ, KSLO, KVOL, WJBO, WODT, WWL, WWWL, WXOK, WYLD). • 1 (no change from yesterday) AM radio station reported being out of service (WSHO). Special Temporary Authority (STA)/Waivers/Extensions The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may grant Special Temporary Authority (STA) to permit immediate or temporary operation of certain radio facilities during emergencies or other urgent conditions, as well as waivers to support emergency communications and service restoration. During Hurricane Ida, there have been 7 STAs granted as of 11 am September 12: a verbal STA to the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, an STA for station KVDU, and 2 STAs to ERA Helicopters LLC, 1 STA to K274DE - Coastal Broadcasting of Larose, Inc, and 2 STAs to Verizon. The FCC granted waivers as follows: • ARRL emergency request for a temporary waiver to permit higher symbol rate data transmissions for Hurricane Ida traffic. • Temporary waiver to allow carriers in affected areas greater flexibility in number portability, to assist in restoring service to affected customers more quickly. • Waiver to extend the Form 477 deadline and the A110 Upfront Payment and App Resubmission deadline. • Waived number aging rules to allow providers to hold disconnected numbers for more than the usual 90 days for customers who wish to temporarily disconnect service and then reconnect after recovery is complete. On September 3, the FCC took a series of actions to extend deadlines and waive rules to assist consumers, licensees and communications providers in Louisiana and Mississippi impacted by Hurricane Ida, as follows: • Waived certain rules and deadlines for the E-Rate, Rural Health Care, Lifeline, High Cost, Emergency Connectivity Fund, and Emergency Broadband Benefit programs. 7 • Released a Public Notice establishing October 1, 2021 as the new deadline for submission of Form 477 data as of June 30, 2021 for affected filers in Louisiana and Mississippi. For all other filers the deadline is September 15, 2021. • Extended until October 1, 2021, certain deadlines that would occur between August 29, 2021 and September 30, 2021. This includes construction deadlines and filing deadlines for certain license modifications, license renewals, and construction notifications. 8