FCC Releases Adopted 988 Outage Reporting R&O

On July 21, 2023, the FCC released the Report and Order (“R&O”) adopting reporting and notice requirements for service outages potentially affecting 988 special facilities, similar to the existing 911 outage reporting requirements.  The R&O was adopted at the July Open Meeting.  Specifically, the R&O adopts the following requirements:

• Reporting 988 Outages in the Commission’s Network Outage Reporting System (“NORS”):  The R&O requires “covered 988 service providers” and “originating service providers” to report outages potentially affecting 988 special facilities to NORS.
  • Covered 988 Service Providers: “Covered 988 service providers” is defined as those providers that provide the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (the “988 Lifeline”) with capabilities such as the ability to receive, process, or forward calls.
    • This definition does not include originating service providers that originate 988 calls and deliver calls to the 988 Lifeline but otherwise do not provide services for the Lifeline.  It also does not include providers of services provided directly to local crisis centers.
  • Originating Service Providers: Originating service providers include cable, satellite, wireless, wireline, and interconnected VoIP providers.
  • Outages that Potentially Affect a 988 Special Facility: An “outage that potentially affects a 988 special facility” is defined as an event that results in the loss of the ability of the 988 Lifeline to receive, process, or forward calls, potentially affecting at least 900,000 user-minutes and lasting at least 30 minutes duration.
    • Included in this definition are “outages that prevent the completion of all calls,” partial service disruptions, as well as outages with a duration of more than 30 minutes.
    • Includes partial service disruptions and outages with a duration of more than 30 minutes.
  • The reports must be filed in NORS, consistent with the current rules governing 911 outage report filing and timing.  The Commission will be adding a check box in NORS to indicate whether the outage will affect a 988 special facility.  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) will have direct read-only access to NORS, and they will be able to share information from NORS with the 988 Lifeline.
• Providing 988 Special Facilities with Notice of Outages: The R&O requires covered 988 service providers and originating service providers to directly notify 988 special facilities about outages that potentially affect those facilities.
  • 988 Special Facilities: The 988 Lifeline Administrator, SAMHSA, and VA are all designated as 988 special facilities that must receive notifications of 988 outages.
    • Does not include the local crisis centers to which some 988 calls are routed.
    • The FCC declines to adopt a requirement that originating service providers notify covered 988 service providers of outages (and vice versa) or that they notify PSAPs.
  • Content and Format: The R&O requires providers to notify 988 special facilities with the same content, by the same means, with the same timing, and with the same frequency as the rules for 911 outage notifications.  Nevertheless, the R&O urges service providers to collaborate with 988 special facilities to ensure that 988 notifications are provided in a format that best facilitates rapid analysis and action.  As with the 911 reporting, parties may mutually agree to alternate means of notification.
    • Declines to adopt a longer reporting timeframe than 30 minutes.  Expressly disagrees with CCA’s arguments that a 30-minute  notification timeframe would be unreasonable and unrealistic.
  • Maintaining Contact Lists: Covered 988 service providers and originating service providers are required to exercise “special diligence” to maintain accurate, up-to-date contact information for 988 special facilities, as is required for 911 special facilities.
    • “Special diligence” is defined as the diligence expected from a person practicing in a particular field of specialty.  Once providers have a 988 special facility contact list in place, special diligence requires that they annually verify the accuracy of their contact list to ensure it is up-to-date.
  • Declines to Adopt Reliability Certifications: The FCC declines to require covered 988 service providers or originating service providers to file 988 reliability certifications to ensure the network supporting the 988 Lifeline remains resilient and robust. Instead, the FCC believes additional study is necessary to determine what next steps, if any, should be taken to promote reliability.
• Costs and Benefits: The FCC estimates that the adopted rules will result in an industry-wide one-time compliance cost of $56,000 and an annual recurring cost of $1,355,000.  The one-time cost would be incurred to create an e-mail survey to biannually solicit special facility contact information.  The annual recurring costs consist of $1,326,000 for notifying 988 special facilities of outages that potentially affect them and $28,000 for soliciting appropriate contact information for outage notification from 988 special facilities.  The benefits are not quantified, but the FCC anticipates the adopted rules will ensure lives are saved, burdens on hospitals and emergency services are reduced, and the overall functioning of the 988 Lifeline is improved.
• Compliance: 
  • Originating service providers will be required to comply with the adopted rules the later of (1) 30 days after the Commission issues a Public Notice announcing that OMB has completed review of any new information collection requirements associated with the adopted Report and Order; (2) 90 days after the publication of the summary of this Report and Order in the Federal Register, or (3) the date the Commission’s updated 911 outage reporting and notification rules go into effect.
  • Covered 988 service providers will be required to comply with the adopted rules the later of (1) 30 days after the Commission issues a Public Notice announcing that OMB has completed review of any new information collection requirements associated with the adopted Report and Order; (2) nine months after the publication of the summary of this Report and Order in the Federal Register; or (3) the date the Commission’s updated 911 outage reporting and notification rules go into effect.

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