Verizon Improving Network Resiliency, Communications In Addressing 911 Service Issues After June 2012 Derecho

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau today ( Jan. 10) issued a staff report on issues associated with 911 services in Virginia after the June 29, 2012, derecho.  The following statement should be attributed to Anthony Melone, Verizon executive vice president and chief technology officer:

"Verizon takes seriously its role in the 911 ecosystem.  We have acted diligently and decisively to resolve the operational and communications issues that arose after the June 2012 derecho, and our performance during Hurricane Sandy in late October demonstrated the substantial progress we've made. 

"We continue to move forward on a number of fronts, from improving network resiliency to enhancing communications processes with public safety officials:

• "We've resolved the issues that caused the generator failures in our Arlington and Fairfax offices and spurred 911-service issues in the wake of the June derecho.
• "We've completed backup-power system audits of all critical Verizon 911 facilities in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and we are resolving issues as needed.
• "We've improved our procedures to identify power issues and get backup generators on line more quickly in crises.
• "We're decentralizing and diversifying our network monitoring system so that the loss of any single location has less of a critical impact on our overall monitoring capability.
• "We've improved communications with 911 center directors and other government officials during emergencies.  We have adopted the five recommendations made by northern Virginia 911 center directors, and we're working with the public safety community to implement these recommendations.
• "We're applying lessons learned from our derecho investigation throughout our service area.

"Verizon will review the bureau's report and recommendations, and we will continue to collaborate with the FCC, the public safety community, and other local, state and federal government officials to take every step to ensure that 911 is available when citizens need it."

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