AT&T, CenturyLink (now Lumen Technologies), and Verizon, along with technology provider Intrado, have agreed to make combined settlement payments of over $6 million involving 911 outages. The companies also agreed to implement compliance plans to ensure adherence to 911 rules, the FCC Enforcement Bureau announced.
The settlements, formally called Consent Decrees, and each including a compliance plan, are:
- AT&T: The carrier will pay $460,000 to settle a pair of investigations, both for outages on Sept. 28, 2020. A $160,000 settlement involves an investigation into whether AT&T violated FCC rules in connection with failed 911 calls and timely notification that potentially affected 911 call centers. The carrier agreed to pay an additional $300,000 for failed 911 calls and failure to deliver number and location information.
- CenturyLink (now Lumen Technologies): The company will pay $3.8 million to resolve an investigation into whether it violated FCC rules in connection with the failure to transmit 911 calls and timely notify 911 call centers during a Sept. 28, 2020 outage.
- Intrado: The company will pay $1.75 million for FCC violations in connection with a Sept. 28, 2020 outage.
- Verizon: The carrier will pay $274,000 to settle an FCC investigation into failed 911 calls during a May 7, 2020 outage.
“The most important phone call you ever make may be a call to 911,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, in a prepared statement. “Sunny day outages can be especially troubling because they occur when the public and 911 call centers least expect it. It’s vital that phone companies prevent these outages wherever possible and provide prompt and sufficient notification to 911 call centers when they do occur. I thank the Enforcement Bureau and the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau for their work on these investigations.”
CenturyLink and a supplier earlier agreed to a $575,000 settlement for a similar 911 outage.
