VERIZON WIRELESS PAYS OVER $1 MILLION TO SETTLE FCC INVESTIGATION INTO SIX-STATE 911 OUTAGE – 3B Media News

Company agrees to pay a fine of $1,050,000 and implement a compliance plan
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WASHINGTON, June 25, 2024 – The Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement
Bureau today announced a settlement to conclude its investigation into whether Verizon Wireless
violated FCC rules by failing to transmit emergency calls during an outage in December 2022, in
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. As Congress and
As the Commission has noted, a stable and reliable emergency service at national level is crucial.
Anyone who calls the first responders must be able to rely on their calls being answered. To clarify this,
In this matter, the Enforcement Bureau and Verizon Wireless agreed to a settlement that
requires Verizon Wireless to implement a compliance plan and pay a civil penalty of $1,050,000.
“When you call 911 in an emergency, it is critical that your call gets through,” the FCC said
Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. “Today’s action is part of the FCC’s ongoing efforts to
“Ensure the public has reliable means of communication, including access to 911.”
FCC rules require wireless carriers to route all emergency calls to emergency call centers.
On December 21, 2022, Verizon Wireless experienced an outage that affected its 911 Wireless Voice service.
about Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) traffic in six states. The outage lasted one hour and
forty-four minutes and prevented hundreds of emergency calls from being routed through Verizon
Wireless’ network. The outage was similar to the one experienced by Verizon Wireless in
October 2022. Following the October outage, Verizon Wireless took steps to protect against
further similar outages, but certain faults repeated themselves, leading to the outage in December.
“The Enforcement Bureau investigates all possible violations of the Commission’s 911 rules
extremely serious. Power outages on sunny days, such as those that occurred here, can be particularly worrying because
They occur when the public and emergency call centers least expect it,” said Loyaan A. Egal, head of the
the Enforcement Bureau. “We are committed to ensuring that communications providers
their responsibility in providing essential 911 services to the American public.”
As part of the settlement announced today, Verizon Wireless has committed to providing a robust
Compliance plan to ensure future compliance with the FCC’s 911 rules and
Implementing best practices, including conducting 911 risk assessments and establishing
Improved processes for implementing security policy updates.