Goto Section: 12.3 | 12.4 | Table of Contents
FCC 12.4
Revised as of October 2, 2015
Goto Year:2014 |
2016
§ 12.4 Reliability of covered 911 service providers.
(a) Definitions. Terms in this section shall have the following meanings:
(1) Aggregation point. A point at which network monitoring data for a 911
service area is collected and routed to a network operations center (NOC) or
other location for monitoring and analyzing network status and performance.
(2) Certification. An attestation by a certifying official, under penalty of
perjury, that a covered 911 service provider:
(i) Has satisfied the obligations of paragraph (c) of this section.
(ii) Has adequate internal controls to bring material information regarding
network architecture, operations, and maintenance to the certifying
official's attention.
(iii) Has made the certifying official aware of all material information
reasonably necessary to complete the certification.
(iv) The term “certification” shall include both an annual reliability
certification under paragraph (c) of this section and an initial reliability
certification under paragraph (d)(1) of this section, to the extent provided
under paragraph (d)(1) of this section.
(3) Certifying official. A corporate officer of a covered 911 service
provider with supervisory and budgetary authority over network operations in
all relevant service areas.
(4) Covered 911 service provider.
(i) Any entity that:
(A) Provides 911, E911, or NG911 capabilities such as call routing,
automatic location information (ALI), automatic number identification (ANI),
or the functional equivalent of those capabilities, directly to a public
safety answering point (PSAP), statewide default answering point, or
appropriate local emergency authority as defined in § § 64.3000(b) and 20.3 of
this chapter; and/or
(B) Operates one or more central offices that directly serve a PSAP. For
purposes of this section, a central office directly serves a PSAP if it
hosts a selective router or ALI/ANI database, provides equivalent NG911
capabilities, or is the last service-provider facility through which a 911
trunk or administrative line passes before connecting to a PSAP.
(ii) The term “covered 911 service provider” shall not include any entity
that:
(A) Constitutes a PSAP or governmental authority to the extent that it
provides 911 capabilities; or
(B) Offers the capability to originate 911 calls where another service
provider delivers those calls and associated number or location information
to the appropriate PSAP.
(5) Critical 911 circuits. 911 facilities that originate at a selective
router or its functional equivalent and terminate in the central office that
serves the PSAP(s) to which the selective router or its functional
equivalent delivers 911 calls, including all equipment in the serving
central office necessary for the delivery of 911 calls to the PSAP(s).
Critical 911 circuits also include ALI and ANI facilities that originate at
the ALI or ANI database and terminate in the central office that serves the
PSAP(s) to which the ALI or ANI databases deliver 911 caller information,
including all equipment in the serving central office necessary for the
delivery of such information to the PSAP(s).
(6) Diversity audit. A periodic analysis of the geographic routing of
network components to determine whether they are physically diverse.
Diversity audits may be performed through manual or automated means, or
through a review of paper or electronic records, as long as they reflect
whether critical 911 circuits are physically diverse.
(7) Monitoring links. Facilities that collect and transmit network
monitoring data to a NOC or other location for monitoring and analyzing
network status and performance.
(8) Physically diverse. Circuits or equivalent data paths are Physically
Diverse if they provide more than one physical route between end points with
no common points where a single failure at that point would cause both
circuits to fail. Circuits that share a common segment such as a fiber-optic
cable or circuit board are not Physically diverse even if they are logically
diverse for purposes of transmitting data.
(9) 911 service area. The metropolitan area or geographic region in which a
covered 911 service provider operates a selective router or the functional
equivalent to route 911 calls to the geographically appropriate PSAP.
(10) Selective router. A 911 network component that selects the appropriate
destination PSAP for each 911 call based on the location of the caller.
(11) Tagging. An inventory management process whereby critical 911 circuits
are labeled in circuit inventory databases to make it less likely that
circuit rearrangements will compromise diversity. A covered 911 service
provider may use any system it wishes to tag circuits so long as it tracks
whether critical 911 circuits are physically diverse and identifies changes
that would compromise such diversity.
(b) Provision of reliable 911 service. All covered 911 service providers
shall take reasonable measures to provide reliable 911 service with respect
to circuit diversity, central-office backup power, and diverse network
monitoring. Performance of the elements of the certification set forth in
paragraphs (c)(1)(i), (c)(2)(i), and (c)(3)(i) of this section shall be
deemed to satisfy the requirements of this paragraph. If a covered 911
service provider cannot certify that it has performed a given element, the
Commission may determine that such provider nevertheless satisfies the
requirements of this paragraph based upon a showing in accordance with
paragraph (c) of this section that it is taking alternative measures with
respect to that element that are reasonably sufficient to mitigate the risk
of failure, or that one or more certification elements are not applicable to
its network.
(c) Annual reliability certification. One year after the initial reliability
certification described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section and every year
thereafter, a certifying official of every covered 911 service provider
shall submit a certification to the Commission as follows.
(1) Circuit auditing. (i) A covered 911 service provider shall certify
whether it has, within the past year:
(A) Conducted diversity audits of critical 911 circuits or equivalent data
paths to any PSAP served;
(B) Tagged such critical 911 circuits to reduce the probability of
inadvertent loss of diversity in the period between audits; and
(C) Eliminated all single points of failure in critical 911 circuits or
equivalent data paths serving each PSAP.
(ii) If a covered 911 service provider does not conform with the elements in
paragraph (c)(1)(i)(C) of this section with respect to the 911 service
provided to one or more PSAPs, it must certify with respect to each such
PSAP:
(A) Whether it has taken alternative measures to mitigate the risk of
critical 911 circuits that are not physically diverse or is taking steps to
remediate any issues that it has identified with respect to 911 service to
the PSAP, in which case it shall provide a brief explanation of such
alternative measures or such remediation steps, the date by which it
anticipates such remediation will be completed, and why it believes those
measures are reasonably sufficient to mitigate such risk; or
(B) Whether it believes that one or more of the requirements of this
paragraph are not applicable to its network, in which case it shall provide
a brief explanation of why it believes any such requirement does not apply.
(2) Backup power. (i) With respect to any central office it operates that
directly serves a PSAP, a covered 911 service provider shall certify whether
it:
(A) Provisions backup power through fixed generators, portable generators,
batteries, fuel cells, or a combination of these or other such sources to
maintain full-service functionality, including network monitoring
capabilities, for at least 24 hours at full office load or, if the central
office hosts a selective router, at least 72 hours at full office load;
provided, however, that any such portable generators shall be readily
available within the time it takes the batteries to drain, notwithstanding
potential demand for such generators elsewhere in the service provider's
network.
(B) Tests and maintains all backup power equipment in such central offices
in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications;
(C) Designs backup generators in such central offices for fully automatic
operation and for ease of manual operation, when required;
(D) Designs, installs, and maintains each generator in any central office
that is served by more than one backup generator as a stand-alone unit that
does not depend on the operation of another generator for proper
functioning.
(ii) If a covered 911 service provider does not conform with all of the
elements in paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section, it must certify with
respect to each such central office:
(A) Whether it has taken alternative measures to mitigate the risk of a loss
of service in that office due to a loss of power or is taking steps to
remediate any issues that it has identified with respect to backup power in
that office, in which case it shall provide a brief explanation of such
alternative measures or such remediation steps, the date by which it
anticipates such remediation will be completed, and why it believes those
measures are reasonably sufficient to mitigate such risk; or
(B) Whether it believes that one or more of the requirements of this
paragraph are not applicable to its network, in which case it shall provide
a brief explanation of why it believes any such requirement does not apply.
(3) Network monitoring. (i) A covered 911 service provider shall certify
whether it has, within the past year:
(A) Conducted diversity audits of the aggregation points that it uses to
gather network monitoring data in each 911 service area;
(B) Conducted diversity audits of monitoring links between aggregation
points and NOCs for each 911 service area in which it operates; and
(C) Implemented physically diverse aggregation points for network monitoring
data in each 911 service area and physically diverse monitoring links from
such aggregation points to at least one NOC.
(ii) If a Covered 911 service provider does not conform with all of the
elements in paragraph (c)(3)(i)(C) of this section, it must certify with
respect to each such 911 service area:
(A) Whether it has taken alternative measures to mitigate the risk of
network monitoring facilities that are not physically diverse or is taking
steps to remediate any issues that it has identified with respect to diverse
network monitoring in that 911 service area, in which case it shall provide
a brief explanation of such alternative measures or such remediation steps,
the date by which it anticipates such remediation will be completed, and why
it believes those measures are reasonably sufficient to mitigate such risk;
or
(B) Whether it believes that one or more of the requirements of this
paragraph are not applicable to its network, in which case it shall provide
a brief explanation of why it believes any such requirement does not apply.
(d) Other matters. (1) Initial reliability certification. One year after
October 15, 2014, a certifying official of every covered 911 service
provider shall certify to the Commission that it has made substantial
progress toward meeting the standards of the annual reliability
certification described in paragraph (c) of this section. Substantial
progress in each element of the certification shall be defined as compliance
with standards of the full certification in at least 50 percent of the
covered 911 service provider's critical 911 circuits, central offices that
directly serve PSAPs, and independently monitored 911 service areas.
(2) Confidential treatment. (i) The fact of filing or not filing an annual
reliability certification or initial reliability certification and the
responses on the face of such certification forms shall not be treated as
confidential.
(ii) Information submitted with or in addition to such certifications shall
be presumed confidential to the extent that it consists of descriptions and
documentation of alternative measures to mitigate the risks of
nonconformance with certification elements, information detailing specific
corrective actions taken with respect to certification elements, or
supplemental information requested by the Commission or Bureau with respect
to a certification.
(3) Record retention. A covered 911 service provider shall retain records
supporting the responses in a certification for two years from the date of
such certification, and shall make such records available to the Commission
upon request. To the extent that a covered 911 service provider maintains
records in electronic format, records supporting a certification hereunder
shall be maintained and supplied in an electronic format.
(i) With respect to diversity audits of critical 911 circuits, such records
shall include, at a minimum, audit records separately addressing each such
circuit, any internal report(s) generated as a result of such audits,
records of actions taken pursuant to the audit results, and records
regarding any alternative measures taken to mitigate the risk of critical
911 circuits that are not physically diverse.
(ii) With respect to backup power at central offices, such records shall
include, at a minimum, records regarding the nature and extent of backup
power at each central office that directly serves a PSAP, testing and
maintenance records for backup power equipment in each such central office,
and records regarding any alternative measures taken to mitigate the risk of
insufficient backup power.
(iii) With respect to network monitoring, such records shall include, at a
minimum, records of diversity audits of monitoring links, any internal
report(s) generated as a result of such audits, records of actions taken
pursuant to the audit results, and records regarding any alternative
measures taken to mitigate the risk of aggregation points and/or monitoring
links that are not physically diverse.
[ 79 FR 3131 , Jan. 17, 2014, as amended at 79 FR 7589 , Feb. 10, 2014; 80 FR 10619 , Feb. 27, 2015]
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