AT&T has agreed to pay a $950,000 fine in response to an August 2023 outage affecting users across four states. The telecommunications giant failed to deliver 911 calls and delayed notifications to eight 911 call centers, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced in a press release on Thursday.
The outage, which lasted for 1 hour and 14 minutes, impacted users in Illinois, Kansas, Texas, and Wisconsin, resulting in more than 400 failed 911 calls. According to the FCC, the incident occurred during network testing by an AT&T contractor, who inadvertently disabled part of the network. Notably, the testing was not associated with planned maintenance activities, bypassing stringent technical reviews.
During the outage, AT&T was required to notify 315 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) or 911 call centers. While notifications were timely sent to 307 PSAPs, eight were not promptly informed, the consent decree reveals. AT&T acknowledged its responsibility for compliance, regardless of its contractor’s actions.
Proper notification to call centers is crucial to enable them to inform the public and provide alternative ways to seek emergency assistance, such as using a 10-digit number or texting 911, the FCC emphasized.
Additionally, AT&T faces potential penalties for a more significant outage that occurred in February 2024. This more recent outage, caused by a botched network update, interrupted over 92 million phone calls, including 25,000 attempts to reach 911.
The FCC recently issued a report criticizing AT&T for not following best practices requiring comprehensive testing and review before implementing network changes. The matter has been referred to the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau for potential rule violations.
In response to these failures, AT&T has already initiated changes, including scanning its network for vulnerabilities, enhancing peer reviews, and ensuring maintenance work cannot proceed without confirmation of completed peer reviews, according to the FCC’s July 2024 report.
The compliance plan included in the new settlement over the August 2023 outage mandates updated PSAP notification procedures, improved monitoring, comprehensive testing during and outside maintenance windows, risk assessments, and detailed compliance training for employees.
This settlement underscores the importance of robust compliance mechanisms and thorough technical reviews in preventing service disruptions, particularly those affecting public safety.
For additional information, you can read the original article here.