Hurricane Ian Marks Debut of FCC Cross-Agency Disaster Info Sharing

Fort Myers, Fla., trailer park after Hurricane Ian
People walk on a flooded street at a trailer park following Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida. (Image credit: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Federal Communications Commission said Friday (September 30) that, effective immediately, federal, state and tribal agencies can get read-only access to information in its Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) and voluntary Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS).

Under NORS, “providers [wireline, cable, satellite, wireless, interconnected VoIP] are required to report network outages that last at least 30 minutes and satisfy other specific thresholds,” while DIRS is a voluntary web-based system in which providers volunteer operational status and restoration information during national disasters.

Also: Hurricane Ian Knocks Out Cable/Broadband to Half-Million

The FCC said the new access was the culmination of its effort to share critical outage information to improve situational awareness, and presumably response, across government agencies.

The goal was to “save lives while also safeguarding the confidentiality of the information,” the FCC said. 

Agencies must apply for the access, however, including a formal request on agency letterhead and an explanation of why they need the information and how it will be used. ▪️

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.