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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  KEVIN  J.  MARTIN 
 Re:  New  Part  4  of  the  Commission’s  Rules  Concerning  Disruptions  to  Communications,  Notice  of  Proposed  Rule  Making  ET  Docket  No.  04-  35 
 I  am  pleased  to  support  this  item,  which  explores  updating  our  network  outage  reporting  requirements.  One  of  this  Commission’s  most  important  responsibilities  is  to  seek  to  “make  available,  so 
 far  as  possible”  a  nationwide  and  worldwide  wire  and  radio  communication  service  “for  the  purpose  of  the  national  defense”  and  “for  the  purpose  of  promoting  safety  of  life  and  property.”  47  U.  S.  C.  §  151.  After 
 massive  telephone  outages  on  the  east  and  west  coasts  occurred  in  1991,  a  congressional  investigation  questioned  the  extent  to  which  the  Commission  was  fulfilling  this  responsibility.  The  Commission 
 responded  by  establishing  a  counsel  –  today  known  as  the  Network  Reliability  and  Interoperability  Council  or  NRIC  –  and  implementing  network  outage  reporting  requirements  for  telephone  companies  and  cable 
 companies  providing  common  carrier  services.  These  steps  have  proven  effective.  NRIC  has  used  the  information  gathered  from  our  reporting  requirements  to  develop  best  practices  to  reduce  the  severity  and 
 number  of  telecommunications  outages.  This  information  has  also  enabled  the  FCC  to  determine  whether  and  how  network  reliability  is  improving. 


 However,  the  world  has  changed  a  great  deal  from  the  early  1990s.  Since  then,  wireless  and  satellite  communications  –  which  are  not  covered  by  our  reporting  requirements  –  have  become  ubiquitous. 
 Moreover,  these  communications  are  now  the  first  choice  of  many  (including  Government  and  public  safety  officials)  for  use  in  emergencies.  It  is  thus  crucial  that  we  ensure  the  reliability  of  these 
 communications.  As  the  Commission  found  with  respect  to  wireline  communications,  an  important  part  of  this  task  is  obtaining  network  outage  information.  Accordingly,  I  look  forward  to  receiving  comments  on 
 the  best  way  the  Commission  can  obtain  information  on  all  components  of  our  telecommunications  infrastructure  and  ensure  continued  communications  reliability  in  the  21st  century. 
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