Communications Status Report for Areas Impacted by Hurricane Ian October 6, 2022 The following is a report on the status of communications services in geographic areas impacted by Hurricane Ian as of October 6, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. EDT. This report incorporates network outage data submitted by communications providers to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). Note that the operational status of communications services during an event may evolve rapidly, and this report represents a snapshot in time. The following counties in Florida are in the current geographic area that is part of DIRS (the “disaster area”) for today’s report. The area of interest for this activation includes the following counties in Florida. Florida: Baker, Bradford, Charlotte, Clay, Collier, Desoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Union, Volusia. 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. Florida: Sanibel Police Department Headquarters has been rerouted to another PSAP with location information.1 The following chart shows the trend in the effects on PSAPs since the storm’s landfall: Number of PSAPs Affected in the Disaster Area by Date 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 28-Sep 29-Sep 30-Sep 1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct 5-Oct 6-Oct 911 Unavailable Available W/O Location Rerouted W/O Location Rerouted with Location Wireless Services The following section describes the status of wireless communications services in the disaster area as reported in DIRS. The chart below shows trends: 1 Sanibel Police Department PSAP is fully functional, but operating from its alternate location as annotated in its contingency planning. 2 Percent of Cell Sites Out of Service in the Disaster Area by State and Date 20% 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 28-Sep 29-Sep 30-Sep 1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct 5-Oct 6-Oct FL The current status of wireless communications services by county is shown by the following chart and map. Percentage of Cell Sites Out of Service by County 10/6/2022 18% 16% Yesterday Today 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 3 The following table provides cell sites out of service by county. 1.5% of the cell sites in the affected area are out of service. The information shown was provided by communications carriers providing services in Florida. Florida Cell Sites Up Cell Cell Cell Sites Cell Sites Out Cell Sites but On Sites Sites Percent Out Due to Due to Out Due to Back-up State Affected Counties Served Out Out Damage Transport Power Power FL BAKER 26 0 0.0% 0 0 0 0 FL BRADFORD 35 0 0.0% 0 0 0 0 FL CALHOUN 5 0 0.0% 0 0 0 0 FL CHARLOTTE 114 6 5.3% 1 5 0 13 FL CLAY 169 0 0.0% 0 0 0 0 FL COLLIER 219 5 2.3% 0 1 4 7 FL DESOTO 26 4 15.4% 1 0 3 2 FL DUVAL 754 2 0.3% 2 0 0 3 FL FLAGLER 91 2 2.2% 0 1 1 0 FL GLADES 29 1 3.4% 0 0 1 0 FL HARDEE 39 1 2.6% 0 0 1 0 4 FL HENDRY 56 2 3.6% 0 0 2 2 FL HIGHLANDS 80 3 3.8% 0 2 1 1 FL HILLSBOROUGH 1,297 4 0.3% 2 1 1 8 FL LAKE 235 3 1.3% 0 0 3 0 FL LEE 394 24 6.1% 0 6 18 35 FL MANATEE 222 5 2.3% 1 2 2 8 FL MARION 306 5 1.6% 0 1 4 3 FL MONROE 99 0 0.0% 0 0 0 2 FL NASSAU 103 1 1.0% 0 1 0 0 FL OKEECHOBEE 59 0 0.0% 0 0 0 2 FL ORANGE 1,126 17 1.5% 2 0 15 22 FL OSCEOLA 257 4 1.6% 0 1 3 0 FL PINELLAS 587 7 1.2% 1 4 2 1 FL POLK 486 3 0.6% 2 0 1 2 FL PUTNAM 85 2 2.4% 0 2 0 0 FL SARASOTA 225 4 1.8% 0 1 3 10 FL SEMINOLE 296 7 2.4% 1 0 6 6 FL ST. JOHNS 239 2 0.8% 1 1 0 0 FL UNION 16 0 0.0% 0 0 0 0 FL VOLUSIA 422 8 1.9% 1 0 7 5 TOTAL 8,097 122 1.5% 15 29 78 132 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), increase power at operational sites, initiate roaming agreements, or take other 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 277,687 subscribers out of service the disaster area; this may include the loss of telephone, television, and/or Internet services. 5 The following chart illustrates the trends in the number of subscribers out of service in the disaster area: Total Number of Wireline/Cable Users Affected in the Disaster Area By State and Date 900,000 800,000 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 28-Sep 29-Sep 30-Sep 1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 4-Oct 5-Oct 6-Oct FL Broadcast: Television stations status: • There are no TV stations reported as being out of service. FM Radio stations status: • 4 FM stations are reported as being out of service. AM Radio stations status: • 2 AM stations are reported as being out of service. 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. • Wireless Telecommunications Bureau grants the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) an emergency request for a temporary waiver of Section 97.307(f) of the Commission’s Rules 6 • Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau extend licensing and regulatory deadlines for 30 days following President Biden’s declaration of emergency for the State of Florida • Wireless Telecommunications Bureau grants an emergency waiver of sections 96.67(c)(2) and (3) of the Commission’s rules governing the Citizen’s Broadband Radio Service to Federated Wireless, CommScope, Inc., and Google LLC • Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Extend Filing and Regulatory Deadlines in Additional Areas (SC and GA) Affected by Hurricane Ian • Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau issue a verbal waiver for Florida public safety officials to use 700 - 800 MHz interoperability channels • International Bureau grants verbal special Temporary Authority (STA) for two weeks to repair of antennas and other facilities. The purpose of this STA is to allow the provider to operate with facilities that are not covered by their current authorization while they are fixing facilities caused by Hurricane IAN • Due to damage associated with Hurricane Ian caused to broadcasters in Florida and South Carolina, for these stations, the Media Bureau extends the October 11, 2022 deadline for placing material covering the previous calendar quarter in their public inspection file to December 12, 2022 • Wireless Telecommunications Bureau issues multiple STAs to Verizon and T-Mobile in Florida to restore communications in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian 7