§ 211.4   Policy.

   During the continuance of a war in which the United States is engaged and
   when the provisions of this part are invoked, all communications common
   carriers shall comply with the following principles insofar as possible:

   (a) Whenever necessary to maintain or restore a service having a designated
   priority, services having lower priority, lower subpriority, or no priority,
   will  be  interrupted  in  the reverse order of priority starting with
   nonpriority services.

   (b) When services are interrupted to restore priority services, carriers
   will endeavor if feasible to notify users of the reason for the preemption.

   (c) When public correspondence circuits are needed to satisfy requirements
   for priority services, idle circuits will be selected first. A minimum
   number  of  public  correspondence circuits shall at all times be kept
   available so as to provide for the transmission of precedence-type messages
   and calls.

   (d) Communications common carriers will not interrupt conversations having
   priority classification except insofar as necessary to restore services of
   higher priority.

   (e)  It  is recognized that as a practical matter in providing for the
   maintenance or restoration of a priority service or services operating
   within a multiple circuit-type facility (such as a carrier band, cable, or
   multiplex  system),  lower priority, lower subpriority, or nonpriority
   services on paralleled channels within a band or system may be restored
   concurrently with higher priority services. Such reactivation shall not,
   however,  interfere  with  the expedited restoration of other priority
   services.

   (f)  The Executive Agent is authorized to instruct the carriers on the
   percentage of government-switched network intermachine trunks to be restored
   to provide capacity for priority access line traffic.

   (g) The carriers are authorized to honor NCS-certified priorities from other
   authorized carriers for leased facilities.

   (h) The carriers are authorized to honor restoration priorities certified by
   the Executive Agent.

   (i) To ensure the effectiveness of the system of restoration priorities
   established by this part it is essential that rigorous standards be applied.
   Users are requested and directed to examine their private line service
   requirements in light of the criteria specified in this part and with regard
   to the availability of alternate communications facilities such as public
   correspondence   message   services,  and  Government-owned  emergency
   communications systems.

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