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In 2013, the Federal Communications Commission adopted certification requirements to ensure that providers of 911 communications services implemented best practices and other sound engineering principles to improve the reliability and resiliency of the nation's 911 networks. The order also amended the Commission's rules to clarify service providers' obligations to notify 911 call centers of communications outages.  In 2020, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau sought comment on the utility of a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) contact information database that would be used by service providers to be able to have up-to-date contact information during network outages. 

In 2021, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposed harmonizing the Commission’s public safety answering point outage notification requirements so that both originating and covered 911 service providers notify PSAPs about outages that potentially affect 911 with standardized information within the same timeframe, by the same means, and with the same frequency. In that NPRM, the Commission also proposed that service providers notify their customers when there is a reportable outage that affects 911 availability.  The Commission also proposed requiring service providers develop and implement procedures to gather, maintain, and update PSAP contact information on an annual basis. The Commission received approximately 30 comments and reply comments in response to the 2021 NPRM from a variety of stakeholders including state and local entities, service providers, trade associations, and advocacy groups.  The Commission held a Virtual Field Hearing on 10/19/2021 on these topics. Speakers representing public safety and communications industry stakeholders from a geographically and demographically diverse sampling presented information.

In November 2022 the Commission released a Second Report and Order (Order) that harmonized the notification requirements for originating and covered 911 service providers (collectively, Providers) when they experience an outage that could potentially affect 911 service.  The Order also adopted rules requiring Providers to gather, maintain, and update annually a list of contact information for each of the PSAPs they serve. The Commission declined to adopt a requirement for service providers to notify their customers directly when there is a reportable outage that affects 911 availability.